


A Way Out, a Way Back

by lxokqbrh



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Depression, F/F, POV Alternating, Post-Canon, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-03
Updated: 2019-09-13
Packaged: 2020-04-07 01:08:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 24
Words: 42,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19074394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lxokqbrh/pseuds/lxokqbrh
Summary: After reliving that fated week over and over in an attempt to find a solution to avoid the impossible choice at the lighthouse, Max finally resigns herself to the fact that she cannot escape and is forced to sacrifice Chloe. Overwhelmed by grief, Max's depression spirals out of control. On the verge of suicide, the answer finally hits her. Her plan works better than expected, and everything finally seems to have been set right. But the world doesn't plan on letting her rest for long...The story shifts perspectives between Max, Chloe, and Rachel.





	1. Max

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all, this is my first attempt at a fanfiction, so I hope you all enjoy. I'm also really looking forward to feedback, so please let me know what you think!
> 
> The base of this story is an extension of the sacrifice Chloe ending to Life is Strange, but I've also drawn a lot of inspiration from other LiS fanfics, which I want to give credit to including "Life Has No Meaning Without You" and "Out of the Abyss". In particular, the first few chapters draw heavily from "Please let this work". Definitely check out all of those, if you have the time.
> 
> I only recently discovered fanfiction after craving more from the LiS story. Now, I've read more LiS fics than I can count and have loved doing it. The idea for this story popped into my head a little while ago, and I haven't seen it in any of the fics I've read, so hopefully I can offer you something new.
> 
> Thanks for taking the time to read, and, once again, I hope you enjoy!

Everything was ready. The rope was dangling from the ceiling fan. It took far too long to find a link that actually taught you how to tie a noose. The first dozen links were all of the prevention links that pop up at the top anytime you research anything about suicide. 'You should talk to a therapist.'

_How am I supposed to talk to a therapist about the constant nightmares and flashbacks that are all due to a week of unbearable trauma that only happened in another timeline?_

I sighed and looked around my Seattle bedroom. The walls were almost entirely bare. Even before I moved back to Arcadia Bay, my room had always been like this. Seattle never felt like home to me. Home was always Arcadia Bay. Home was playing pirates in the backyard until it turned dark. Home was rolling around laughing by the lighthouse. Home was Chloe. And I let home take a bullet to the heart.

I moved to the corner of my room, to the small box on my nightstand with all my photos. I felt the tears start to drip slowly down my face as I looked at them all one by one, one last time. Me and Chloe with our pirate hats. Me and Chloe wrestling in the back seat of William's car. Me and Chloe lying in the grass in the shade of the lighthouse. A blue butterfly in a school bathroom.  _I'll be with you soon, Chloe_.

I had lost count of how many times I'd relived that week, trying everything I could think of to find some different outcome. But the storm always came. I tried so hard, but I failed time and time again.  _It should've been me. You deserved so much more. Then I came in and ruined everything. It should've been me to die in that bathroom._

_Wait._

For once, not in a literal sense, time seemed to freeze around me.

_It can be me. If I die instead, then Chloe can keep living. If I die instead, there's no one to fuck with time and make the storm. If I die instead. This is it. This is the answer I've been searching for all this time!_

I snatched up the photo of the butterfly and felt the memory come to life, but before I was fully immersed in it, I pushed myself away. I couldn't leave Chloe alone. She lost William, she lost Rachel, then she loses me? She would need someone there for her. I knew Joyce would be there, but, knowing Chloe, she would never be able to fully open up to her. She'd push her away. She would need someone else. She would need Rachel.  _I have to save Rachel_. Everything suddenly started to make sense, and life ironically rushed into my body at the thought of my own death.

I needed to save Rachel, but how? I needed to warn her about Jefferson. With photo jumping, getting back to that time wouldn't be a problem, but I couldn't just randomly pop up, explain that I was from the future, and disappear again. I needed to warn her without her knowing that it was me. I racked my brain, trying to think of some solution, when it hit me: Rachel's dad was the district attorney! I needed to warn him that Rachel was on Jefferson's hit list. I wouldn't be able to identify him directly, but I could give him enough details of his description and the description of the dark room and its location for him to put the pieces together himself. Then he could take down Jefferson, and Rachel would be safe.

I obviously couldn't go to warn him in person, so I'd have to write him a letter. And the letter couldn't be from me; it would need to be from someone who could actually have the answers to all this. It also couldn't be someone who they'd be able to question about it, and then it became obvious. It needed to be from one of his previous victims.

Forcing myself back into the memory of the dark room, I felt it clawing at my sides, seeking to take over and send me reeling into another flashback, but I refused to let it. I remembered the binders on the wall, with the names of all the girls. I saw Rachel's name, and my eyes flipped to the one before it: Kelly.

I had everything I needed. I knew that Rachel had been missing for six months before I got back to Arcadia Bay, so I had my timeline for when I needed to go back. All I needed was a picture from that time so I could write the letter and send it to James Amber.

Finally, I found it. The picture I took from the window of my dad's office seven months ago. It was perfect. I grabbed it and focused, feeling the memory come to life, before I sank into it and found myself in his office. Immediately I rushed to grab a sheet of paper and started to write.

_Dear Mr. Amber,_

_I have a lot to tell you, and I don't know if it will all make sense. But please, you have to believe me. Your daughter, Rachel, she's is in extreme danger. I have to tell you my story so you'll understand, but please, you have to believe me._

_It all started one night when I was out with friends at some party. It started out as a fun night, but then I had a drink. After a bit my vision became blurry, and I became nauseous. I was drugged. Then I saw a man, he noticed how I was acting and offered to drive me home. It looked like he was in his mid-thirties or so. He had glasses, dark-brown hair, and a beard. He said his name was Mark, that he was a teacher at that Blackwell school. I wasn't in my right mind, and I agreed. He led me to his car and started driving. I think we were driving toward Portland, and he said he was taking me to the hospital. But something felt wrong. I kept drifting in and out of consciousness, but at some point I saw we took a small, muddy sideroad off of the main road toward Portland and were heading into the woods. He stopped at this creepy barn in the middle of nowhere and dragged me out of the car. I was terrified, but I wasn't able to make any noise other than a confused mumble._

_He dragged me into the barn, and there was this secret basement thing that he pushed me into. It was like a photo studio bunker. He stripped me of my clothes and started rearranging me and taking photos of my terrified naked body. He would inject me with things, and I would fade in and out of consciousness. He would beat me and rape me and torture me, all while taking photos of my pain. It was worse than hell._

_One day, he had left me strapped to the chair, and I heard his car drive away. He had been beating me earlier, and I think that loosened the restraints, so I was able to escape. As I was making my way out of the bunker, I saw that he kept files on all the girls he had hurt. There were red binders filled with photos, all with names attached. There were also lists of girls he was looking for. That's where I saw your daughter's name. Please make sure that she is safe, and please find this monster._

_I was able to find my way out, and I ran as far and as fast as I could. Now, I might be free from him physically, but my mind will never escape from him. He still tortures me every day in my head. I can't do it anymore, but I knew I needed to write this letter before I leave. Please stop him. Please protect your daughter. Please tell my family how much I love them. Tell them I'm going to a better place now, that everything will be okay._

_Kelly_

I took a step back and looked over my creation. It was perfect. It would let him identify Jefferson without trouble and gave him enough information to find the barn. Rachel would be safe, and Kelly's family might finally have some closure. I snatched up an envelope, stuffed it inside, addressed it to James Amber, and slipped it into my dad's work mailbox. Just in time, I felt the world start to slip around me as I was pulled back into the present (or whatever the hell I was supposed to call the time I was living in).

Everything was ready. I grabbed the butterfly photo and stared at it.  _I'm coming for you Chloe. I'm going to make everything right. I promise._  Again the world turned blurry, and I felt myself back in the bathroom. My breathing became quicker, but I realized I wasn't afraid. This was the way things are supposed to be. Chloe would be okay. She would have Rachel, a better friend than I could ever be for her.

The door slammed open, and Nathan moved in, muttering to himself in the mirror, "It's cool Nathan. Don't stress. You're okay bro, just… count to three. Don't be scared. You own this school! If I want it, I could blow it up! You're the boss." I knew the dialogue by heart. Everything was exactly the same as every time before.

The door smashed open again, and there was my everything. Her blue hair dangled from beneath the brim of her beanie. Her face was grim, intentioned. Bands across her wrist, she wore the same white shirt with the skull on it, covered by the unzipped leather jacket. Her necklace with the three bullets hung around her neck. I wished so badly to hold her, to explain everything, but I knew I couldn't. And I knew that she would never remember anything that had happened. The pain of that thought was terrible, but I also knew that I'd endure any pain for her. I also knew I didn't deserve her. Ever since I came back, I'd done nothing but fuck things up. She started to speak, the same words as every time before. I let the conversation play out and waited for the perfect moment. Nathan pulled out the gun, and Chloe started to shout, "GET THAT GUN AWAY FROM ME PSY—" There.

Moving myself from behind the stall, I looked, one last time, at the scene in front of me. Nathan was frozen with the gun pointed at Chloe's chest. Chloe's face filled with rage and terror. I stumbled my way toward them, my head aching from freezing time. I looked at Chloe. So beautiful. I moved myself in front of her. I pushed Nathan's hand an inch to the side, so the bullet will go only through me and miss Chloe entirely. I put my hand to her cheek. Her bright blue eyes stared, unseeing, back at me, and I felt a tear roll down my face, as I let go of time.

BANG.

My body lurched forward at the sudden pressure on my back, and I crashed into Chloe, pressing her against the wall.

"Wha—" Her eyes were wide and confused, so beautiful. Somewhere behind me, I heard Nathan panicking. I felt the red wetness spread through my torso, soaking my shirt, but there was no pain. I looked up at her and felt myself smile.

"Hello Chloe." With that, my strength left me, and I tumbled to the ground. Chloe was there in an instant, and I still smiled back at her.

Darkness slowly began to overtake me, and I could distantly hear her call back to me, "M-Max?" So beautiful.


	2. Chloe

Everything was ready. Finally, Rachel and I were finally going to get out of this hellhole. Once I got the money from that shithead Prescott, I could pay off Frank, and we'd be free to go. I hadn't told Rachel what I was doing yet, and I couldn't wait to see the look on her face when she saw the cash. The corner of my mouth creeped up in a smile at the thought. She was always so cute in the very few moments she found herself speechless.

I pushed my way into Blackwell. It'd been quite a while since I'd walked through those halls, with the blue, red, and grey lockers against the walls. I felt myself looking around, and as much as I hated it, I knew I was secretly hoping to see Max. Rachel had told me she was back about a month ago.  _What kind of best friend moves away for five years without a word, then comes back and after over a month still hasn't spoken to you? Fuck her._

I made my way through the hall and paused in front of the bathroom door. I took a deep breath and shook away the nerves I felt building inside me. I threw the door open and marched inside. Nathan was already there, leaning over the sink. I pushed open the stalls, to make sure we were alone, spotting the scattered graffiti all over the doors.

"So what do you want?" He tried to deny that he had the cash, but I knew it was bullshit. He was from the richest family in Arcadia Bay. It seemed like I was finally gonna get it out of him, when he whipped out a gun. He started screaming at me, and panic began to rise inside me. I heard myself responding without thinking. The gun pointed directly at my chest. I'd seen how unstable this fucker is, and I didn't doubt for a second that he'd pull the trigger. Instinctively, I start to shout at him.

"GET THAT GUN AWAY FROM ME PSY—" Before I even had a chance to finish the sentence, something happened. A body seemed to appear out of thin air and pressed up against me. I stood frozen, when

BANG.

The body slammed into me, and I felt the wind get knocked out of me as my back smashed against the wall. I heard the gun go off, but I felt nothing.  _Why didn't it hurt?_  Then I remembered the person in front of me. Soft, brown hair. Blue eyes. Blue doe eyes. It couldn't be. I knew those eyes. It'd been so long, but I knew those eyes as well as my own.

"Hello, Chloe." No. This wasn't right. I couldn't speak. She was smiling at me, and she looked so happy. Her body suddenly crumbled to the ground, and I automatically fell down beside her, cradling her.  _No, please_. A warm wetness began spreading onto my body, and I looked down. Max. She was smiling.  _Why is she smiling?_  Her whole shirt is red.  _No. This is wrong. Wait. Stop. No._  My eyes began to with tears, as I brain struggled to accept what just happened.

"M-Max?" Her body started to become limp, and her eyes slowly began to close. "NO! MAX DON'T YOU FUCKING DIE!" The door crashed open and someone ran inside. I heard something metal sliding across the floor and the sound of a boot meeting skin.

"NOT YOU! MAX, PLEASE DAMMIT! DON'T LEAVE ME AGAIN!" Someone shoved me away, but I crawled back to her.  _Please, no._  My hands left red stains on the tile.

"MAX!" He pushed me away again, and I finally looked up to see who it was.

"CHLOE! STAY BACK!" Step-douche was yelling at me, and for once I couldn't yell back. I felt myself curl into the corner. I saw the broken bathroom door. I saw the faces of students gathered outside the bathroom. I heard their chatter and their silence. I saw Max. He was doing something to her.  _Why isn't she moving?_  I heard sirens. I saw something being wheeled into the bathroom by people in white coats. I saw Max's body being lifted onto the stretcher. I saw her being rolled away. I saw myself following them. I saw the tears flooding out of my eyes, dripping down onto my chest and arms. I heard myself wailing for them not to take her away from me. I saw myself pushing and shoving to get onto the ambulance. I saw them pushing me away. I saw David grabbing me and pulling me to his car. I saw us driving toward the hospital after the ambulance. I saw myself running to get into the operating room. I saw myself being pushed back, being told only family can see her. I saw myself sitting in a chair, eyes blank and forward, tears flowing, my body covered in blood. I saw David putting his arm around. me. I saw myself, for once, not pushing him away. I felt the pain. I felt the hurt. I felt the fear. I felt the guilt. I felt the rage. I felt. I felt. I felt.

"Chloe! What the hell is going on!" I knew that voice. That was a good voice. That voice was Rachel. That voice made me happy.  _Why do I not feel happy?_

"I've tried," a voice says with a sigh. "We've been here three hours. She hasn't said a word." I knew that voice. That was a bad voice. That voice was David. That voice made me angry.  _Why do I not feel angry?_


	3. Rachel

It wasn't so much the text that scared me, but more so who it was from.

**David Madsen**

_Rachel. Chloe is in the hospital. She's not hurt. But I think she could use a friend._

David hated me, with a passion. Pretty much every time he saw me with Chloe, our exchange inevitably ended in a screaming match between the three of us. I didn't even know he had my phone number. I immediately sprinted to the car, worst case scenarios playing out in my mind. Speed limits and red lights meant nothing to me as I raced to the hospital. Finally, I was there, and I raced inside. A nurse guided me up a flight of stairs to a long corridor. She led me to a waiting area at the end, and there was Chloe. She was sitting with her head in her hands, covered in blood. David sat next to her, and he gave me a short nod, beckoning me to come forward.

I threw myself into the chair next to her. "Chloe! What the hell is going on!" David sighed.

"I've tried. We've been here three hours. She hasn't said a word." With that, he stood and moved to the other side of the room. I placed my arm around Chloe, her whole body shuddering. "There was a shooting in a bathroom at Blackwell. There was only other student there at the time with Chloe and the shooter. She was the only one that was hurt. We don't have a lot of information, but from what we do know, it seems very unlikely that she'll make it. From her reaction, it seems like Chloe knows the other student. Maxine Caulfield."

Chloe trembled as David said that name.  _Holy shit._  I knew all about Max. She was all Chloe ever talked about when we first became friends. She had told me so many stories about the two of them as kids, playing pirates. Then she abandoned Chloe for five years. I always hated Max for hurting Chloe like that.

Slowly, Chloe started to raise her head, her whole face soaked in blood and tears. "She s-saved me." Her voice was barely over a whisper, but both David and I were now staring at her, confused. "H-he was going to sh-shoot me, but Max jum-jumped in front."  _Well, so much for hating Max Caulfield._  I wrapped my arms around Chloe and squeezed as she began to sob. I heard David's boots moving closer.

"Chloe, why did Nathan Prescott want to shoot you?" His voice was back to its normal, authoritative tone.  _So that's the fucker who tried to shoot my Chloe._  I felt a burning rage grow inside me as I knew that little shit wouldn't get nearly the punishment he deserved, given all the power his dad had.

"I don't know. He was just there in the bathroom." Chloe's voice sounded slightly stronger as she spoke. I knew this was a lie, but it probably wasn't the best time to ask about it. Suddenly, some commotion began outside, and I heard screaming.

"THAT'S OUR DAUGHTER! OUR BABY! LET US IN DAMMIT! SHE'S OUR GIRL!" My heart ached for what I assumed must be Max's parents. I stared into my lap and tried to focus on comforting Chloe whose sobs had gotten worse since the shouting started. The door to the waiting area swung open, and two figures stumbled through, sobbing into each other's arms. One was a tall man, strong, with a beard and short brown hair. The other was a much smaller woman, with darker hair, shivering in her husband's arms. The man looked up, and his face changed as he spotted Chloe. He started running toward her, and at first I felt myself panic, thinking he was going to tackle her, until he smothered her in a hug.

"Chloe! Thank God you're alright! You've grown up so much! It's so wonderful to see you!" His voice was weak and shivering, but he seemed genuinely happy to see Chloe. Soon, the woman was by her side as well and joined in the hug. The scene unfolded in front of me, and I sat, unsure of what to do, until Chloe started screaming.

"IT'S MY FAULT! IT'S MY FAULT! SHE WAS TRYING TO SAVE ME! SHE JUMPED IN FRONT! IT SHOULD BE ME IN THERE! IT'S MY FAULT! I'M SORRY!"

With this, Max's father pushed away from the hug and grabbed Chloe by her shoulders. "Chloe, I need you to look at me." His voice was deep and commanding, and Chloe's head slowly rose to look at him, red, puffy eye to red, puffy eye. "None of this is your fault. Max chose to jump in front of you. That was her choice, not yours. I know it's been so long, but, Chloe, I love you like a second daughter. Max is a smart girl, and she knew the choice she was making. Chloe, she cares so much about you." The two stared at each other for a moment, before Chloe speaks again.

"Wh-why did she never talk to me?"  _There it is._  The sadness grew in the man's eyes as he looked back at her.

"Chloe, she tried. She tried so many times. I can't count the number of times she yelled at us, crying, screaming at us for taking us away from Arcadia Bay, from you. You know, one day after she left to come to school here, I was cleaning the house, and in her room I had found a stack of letters. They were all addressed to you. There was one from every week we'd been in Seattle. Every week for five years. I don't know why she was never able to send them, but I'd imagine she was just scared. You know her just as well as I do, and you know how shy she can be. And before she came back, she talked to me about you. She thought you hated her for leaving, so she thought it would be better for her not to say anything. I tried to talk her out of that, but she was so scared that she would just hurt you. I know this won't make up for everything you've been through while Max has been away, but I do know that she never stopped caring for you. Not for one second." As he spoke, I felt nearly all my suspicion and hatred for Max vanish. Now they were both sobbing and hugging again.

Once more, the door swung open, this time revealing Joyce. She rushed in and hugs Chloe, before turning to Max's parents. Without a word from any of them, the three crashed into a group hug.

"Oh Ryan, Vanessa, I'm so sorry." I guessed that Joyce must've been good friends with Max's parents as well.

The deep voice of Max's father caught in his throat for a moment, before he spoke, "Joyce, it's so wonderful to see you again. I just wish it were under different circumstances." They pulled back, and Joyce turned to her husband.

"Ryan, Vanessa, this is my husband David Madsen, Chloe's step-father." Normally, at this point, I'd hear a complaint from Chloe about David being referred to as her step-dad, but Chloe remained silent.

David rose from his chair and turned to the parents, "it's nice to meet you. I'm very sorry about your daughter." They shook hands, and David returned to his seat. Then Joyce faces me, with tears in her eyes. Fortunately, Joyce and I seemed to get along much better than I did with David.

"And this sweet girl here is Rachel Amber, Chloe's best friend." I shook their hands and tried my best to smile at them.

"I've heard all about Max. From the stories Chloe's told me, it sounds like they were quite the pirate crew."

A sad smile crossed the face of Max's dad. "There was never a dull moment with those two. I'm glad that Chloe's has had such a good friend. You can call me Ryan. This is my wife Vanessa." Taking my seat again, I wrapped my arm back around Chloe. Eventually everyone moved to their chairs, and we sat, mostly silent, occasionally a few sentences of small talk.

Eventually, the door opened again, and a doctor stepped into the room. It felt like the room immediately dropped twenty degrees, as our faces all turned toward him, terrified of what his next words would be. He turned to Ryan and Vanessa and addressed them, "Ryan, Vanessa, my name is Dr. Richard Moore. The initial surgery is complete, and your daughter is alive." Gasps of relief were instantly released around the room. "She is currently in a coma, and it's uncertain when or if she'll wake. During the surgery we were able to seal the punctured blood vessels and clean and seal the wound. Your daughter was lucky in that the bullet missed her heart and lungs, however she has suffered fairly extensive damage to her spinal cord. The damage appears not to be complete, so it is likely that she will still maintain some level of feeling and motion in her lower half. However, she will likely spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair. These are problems for another day, though. For now, she is alive, her vitals are good, and she appears to be recovering well from her surgery. If complications arise, it's possible she may need subsequent operations, but given how well she's responded, it's unlikely that will be necessary. We still need to run a few more tests, but you should be able to see her within the next few hours." With that, he turned and left the room.

I start to squirm under the pressure of the ensuing silence. Eventually, Ryan cleared his throat. When he spoke, his voice was quiet and weak.

"Well, she's alive. And—for now, we just need to be grateful for that."

Chloe shivered next to me, her head in her hands. And then I heard her, under her breath, so no one but me could hear, "it's all my fault."


	4. Chloe

The doctor led the six of us to the door of a hospital room and slowly pushed it open.  _Oh god_. There, in the hospital bed, a tube down her throat, an IV in her arm, wires and sensors all over her body, machines all around her, Max. My first mate. The soft rhythmic beep of her pulse filled the room, while we all stood near the door, silent, frozen.

"Oh, my baby!" Mrs. Caulfield was the first to move, and she rushed next to the bed and started slowly running her hand through Max's hair. Soon, Mr. Caulfield was right beside her, and the rest of us followed. I felt Rachel next to me, holding my hand, allowing me to lean against her. I felt Mom behind me, her hands on my shoulders. I stared at Max's limp, pale body until I couldn't bear it anymore, and I forced my eyes to the floor. Rachel had driven to my house about an hour earlier to get me some clothes that weren't soaked in blood, which I was grateful for.

Finally, I made myself look up and took a slow step forward. I leaned on the side of her bed and cupped one of her small, cold hands in mine. The tears started to come again, fresh and relentless. "God, Max, why did you do it?" I collapsed onto my knees and rested my forehead against her hand as the tears poured out. Seconds turned to minutes turned to hours, and the world turned dark.

The next days were uneventful. I spent every second of my freetime next to Max, holding her hand, apologizing, telling her stories about me and Rachel, stories I knew, deep down, she couldn't hear. They cancelled school at Blackwell for a while, so Rachel had been by my side for most of it. I didn't know what the fuck I'd do if she wasn't with me. I'd be in shambles—not that I wasn't already, but still. I spoke more with Max's parents, and they consistently reassured me that none of this is my fault, even though I couldn't bring myself to believe it. They spoke to Joyce like the best of friends, like they had never left, like they had never taken Max away from me.

Finally, it was day eleven of Max's beauty coma, and everything was the same. Rachel sat next to me, telling me about Trevor falling off his skateboard, and I tried my best to laugh along with her. I just kept staring at Max. Her face was still so pale, and she looked the same as she did on day one. I remembered the doctors words when he first informed us of her state: 'when  _or if_  she'll wake.'  _God Max, you can't just show up out of nowhere, save my life, and then live the rest of your life in a coma, never letting me actually know you again._

I had to explain to David everything that had happened in the bathroom. After seeing him likely save Max's life, I resigned myself to calling him David, reserving step-douche for special occasions. Then I had to explain it all again to a police officer. But while I was explaining it, it seemed like there was a blank spot in my memory. One moment, Max was nowhere to be seen, and the next she was in my arms, without me ever seeing her move there. I had racked my brain over and over trying to figure it out. I told Rachel about it, but she wasn't much help, just saying that it was a stressful moment and a lot to process in a short amount of time. But that didn't explain why I could remember everything else in fluid motion, why there were no blank spots in Nathan's motion or the conversation. I tried to accept what Rachel told me, but my brain refused to agree.

I looked at the clock on the wall: 1:00 and decided it was probably time for lunch. Mom had taken Max's parents to the Two Whales a while ago, and they'd probably be back soon. I pulled myself up and turned to Rachel when—

"Chloe?"


	5. Max

Everything was dark. For a while, there was nothing, but then I started hearing this weird, faint beeping sound. Is the afterlife really just nothingness for eternity? But then the blackness slowly turned to a dark grey. Wait a minute. I'm dead. There shouldn't be light. What's happening? The grey became lighter and lighter, until it was blinding. Everything was white and blurry, but then there was motion, and a streak of blue flew across my field of vision. It couldn't be. Did I fail? Did she still die in the end? No.

"Chloe?" My own voice sounded distant and weak. The brightness and blurriness started to clear, and I could make out more details. There was still white everywhere, but it looked more solid. I saw the blue-haired girl next to me, her mouth open, and there was no doubt now. I failed. Chloe died anyway. There's another girl standing behind her.

"Am I dead?" My voice was stronger now. I heard someone moving around, and a hand pressed against my shoulder. I realized my eyes had closed, and I forced them back open. There she was, right in front of me, my captain.

"MAX! No Max, you fucking hero, you're not dead! You're not dead, Max!" I saw her in front of me, her beautiful blue hair, her eyes bright and open, her mouth in maybe the biggest smile I'd ever seen. She was happy. But if I'm still alive, then—

"Are you dead?"

"No Max, I'm not fucking dead! You saved me!" I lived. The plan worked, but I lived. I felt energy erupt inside of me.

"Chloe, you're alive!" I shouted out, when pain shot through my body. I heard myself emit a whimper, and the smile on my face vanished. Chloe's smile did the same, and she held her hand against my shoulder to settle me down.

"Easy there, tiger. I know my smokin' hot bod is hard to resist, but you're gonna have to take it slow for a while." The smile creeped back on to my face. It really is Chloe.

"Chloe, I texted Joyce to let her know about Max. She'll be here with her parents soon." This was a different voice, and I remembered the other person in the room. I urged my head to turn slowly, and there, a girl, blond hair, hazel eyes, a blue feather earring hanging from her left ear. It worked! Everything worked! She's here!

"Oh, sorry—Max, this is my friend—"

"Rachel! I'm so happy you're alive! It worked! It really worked!" I couldn't contain my excitement. Everything worked out like it was supposed to.

"Um, yeah, Max, glad to be alive as well. Wait, how did you know my name?" Shit. I'm not supposed to know who she is. I tried to lift my hand to rewind, but I was so weak that I could barely move it. In that moment, I decided to make a deal with myself. This time I'm not going to abuse my power for little things. Only in life or death situations. Now, time for damage control.

"Oh, I guess I heard about you around school." That'll work, right? I mean, Rachel's popular. It would make sense for me to know her name.

"Oh, alright then. I've heard all about you from Chloe. It sounds like you were quite the pirate." I started to giggle, and Chloe smiled as well. I looked at her, as I answered.

"Nah, only when I had my captain there to guide me." Her grin grew larger, and I looked around the room again. "Wait, why are we in a hospital?" Chloe's smile vanished, and she looked down at her hands.

"Well, Max, you sorta got shot trying to save my sorry ass." Her voice was softer and sadder, and she couldn't look me in the eye.

"Oh, that makes sense."

"You fucking terrified us all Max. We weren't sure you were gonna make it. You've been in a coma for the past eleven days." Eleven days?

"Wowsers. Sorry for scaring you."

"Fuck, Max, I mean you could've died! We all thought you were going to die! You risked everything just to protect me, and—"

"Chloe Elizabeth Price, don't say another word." My voice was loud and strong, and the room went silent. "This was my choice. Mine alone. You didn't force me to do anything. I chose this, and I'd choose it again. Don't you dare feel guilty for this. None of this is your fault. You're not the one who brought a fucking gun to a school." I sighed, and my voice returned to normal. "But knowing you, I also know you probably still don't believe this, so, just please try to trust me on this. Pretend I'm Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting. 'It's not your fault.'" A hint of a grin slipped back onto Chloe's face with that last sentence.

"Damn, Max. Seattle must've done a number on you. From what I remember, before you left, you couldn't raise your voice to a fly."

"Chloe, I'm so sorry I never reached out, I tried, it's just, I—"

"Max. Your dad told me about the letters you wrote. About how you felt coming back here. All that is in the past now, okay?" I met her eyes and nod, before I processed what she said.

"Okay. Wait—he went through my room?" With that, Chloe and Rachel both bursted into laughter, while I tried my best to look angry. The door suddenly swung open, and I saw my parents and Joyce rush inside.

Dad immediately embraced me in a hug, but I flinched in pain at his touch, causing him to back off. My parents sat on either side of my bed, each holding one of my hands. I saw the tears in their eyes, and I smiled up at them.

"Hey, Max." My dad's voice was deep and gentle, and it wrapped around me like a warm blanket.

"Hey, guys." I raised my head and noticed the person who walked in with my parents. "Joyce! It's so good to see you!"

That big honest smile that only Joyce can give was plastered on her face, as she looked back at me, eyes wet, "Max, I'm so glad you're okay, honey. You know I've missed you."

Realizing how stiff my body felt, I tried to resituate myself, but my legs wouldn't move. Panic grew inside me.

"My legs don't move." Every smile in the room vanished. I turned to my mom, "Mom, why don't my legs move?" She stared back at me before bursting into tears.

"Max," my dad picked up for her, his voice heavy, "when you were hurt, it damaged your spinal cord. Y-you'll likely experience paralysis from the waist down. The doctor said it wasn't total, but that you'll probably be in a chair the rest of your life." His head sank back down to his lap. The rest of my life.

"Oh." How am I supposed to respond to that? "Well, that blows." I noticed all the hung heads in the room and found myself feeling somehow responsible. "I guess it's better than being dead!" I replied, trying to make my voice as light-hearted as possible. A few of them lifted their heads to offer me forced, half-grins. Better than nothing, I guess.

Once again, the door swung open, and a doctor entered. He didn't seem phased by the heavy atmosphere in the room and wore a big smile. "Max, I'm so glad to see you awake. I'm Dr. Richard Moore. I've been taken care of you during your stay. You're a lucky girl."

Suddenly, Chloe snapped to her feet. "Lucky? What about getting shot in the chest appears fucking lucky to you?" She glared, fuming at the doctor, and I couldn't help but chuckle. All eyes turned to me confused.

"Sorry, it's just, you were getting so mushy earlier. That's more like the Chloe I know." I felt the smirk on my face, and, after a moment, Chloe returned my grin. The room relaxed, and Chloe settled back into her chair.

"Well, maybe lucky isn't the right word," the doctor continued, "but the bullet missed all your major organs, and we've had no complications with your initial surgery. Given the mood when I entered, I take it you've had the paralysis piece of it explained." He looked at me for confirmation, and I nodded back at him. "We don't believe the injury was complete, which means you'll likely still have some degree of sensation. Tell me, can you feel anything in your legs?"

I looked down at the molds of my two skinny legs under the hospital blanket and focused. My brow furrowed in concentration, as I tried to swing, twist, or do anything with them. My frustration began to grow at these now useless appendages, but for a moment it did seem like I could feel something in them.

"Maybe. I think so."

"Okay, you may find that these sensations grow more definite with time. It's also possible, that you regain some small form of motor control, but you'll still require use of the wheelchair. Speaking of..." He exited the room before returning a few seconds later, rolling a chair in front of him. "We'll leave this in your room, and when you feel ready, we can try to get you out of the bed for a bit. The riskiest parts of your recovery are over, but we'd like to keep you here a few more days to rest and ensure that you're ready to be discharged." I turned to look at the plain black chair in the corner and frowned at it. Is that really going to be my life?

As if sensing what I was thinking, Chloe spoke up. "Don't worry Max! Rachel and I have already talked about getting some hella sick flame decals for the sides. We'll fit some turbo jets on the back and put helicopter blades on top. You'll be even more badass than the real Mad Max!" I couldn't help but laugh, as I turned to see Chloe and Rachel mischievously smiling at me.

"Sounds like a plan." I even heard Dr. Moore laughing.

"While I can't fully endorse it as a medical professional, I can't wait to see it in action."

Eventually the doctor left, and the room turned to small talk. I mostly stayed silent, watching them all tell stories and laughing and smiling. I did it. Everything worked out the way it was supposed to. Well, the paralysis part sucks, but I wasn't even expecting to live from this. To me, it seemed a couple legs was a small price to pay for the lives of both Chloe and Rachel. They looked so happy together, laughing and smiling, and I felt a pang of jealousy inside me. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, reminding myself that I couldn't just go spilling my feelings for Chloe out in the open, telling her what she really means to me. She had Rachel, and that was how it needed to be. That was what I meant to happen, anyway. Suddenly, I realized that no one was talking anymore. Everyone was staring at me. My parents looked like they're expecting an answer, and I could see tears and pain in Chloe's eyes.

"Sorry, what?" My mom shifted in her seat before starting to speak.

"I said, we'll get some of your school friends to help pack up your stuff, so we can head back to Seattle when you're ready."

"No." I surprised myself, with how firm and unflinching my voice sounded, but I knew that I would not back down on this.

"What do you mean 'no'?" The surprise in my mom's voice was not well masked.

"I mean I'm not going back to Seattle."

"Of course you're going back to Se—" I heard the tone in her voice rise, but I cut her off.

"Listen to me. I've always hated Seattle, and you know that's true no matter how many times you've tried to deny it. I've never had any friends there, and I hated it. Arcadia Bay is my home. It always has been, and that isn't going to change. I know that you'll argue that you need to be there to take care of me, but did you hear what the doctor said? The bulk of my recovery is done. I'm going to be like this the rest of my life. That won't change whether I'm here or in Seattle. What will change is that here I can be happy, whereas in Seattle I would be miserable. The kids were brutal there, Mom. They bullied me before. Think about what they'll be like now. My home is here, and I'm not going to let some dick with a gun change that."

The room turned silent. I felt out of breath. My face started to burn as all the stares dug into me. My dad spoke first.

"Okay."

"But Ryan—"

"Vanessa, I think she's right. I know it's hard, and I know it's going to be hard. But we very rarely get to see her stand up for herself like that, and I think it's important for us to respect her when she does." Mom didn't look convinced, but I saw my dad lift his head to offer me a reassuring smile, which I returned.

All of a sudden, Chloe's head perked up from the corner, and she started to speak. "She can stay with us!" All the faces in the room turned toward her, and I couldn't believe what I had just heard. She looked at my parents, "I mean, I know you guys will want her to stay somewhere where you know she'll be safe and comfortable, and you know we'll enforce both of those things on her with no mercy." She turned to Joyce, "and she took a bullet for me, so I figure we at least owe her that much." That was the trump card. Chloe undoubtedly knew that Joyce couldn't say no to that.

Joyce turned to my parents, smiling, "you know Max is like a daughter to me. She's always welcome."

Dad looked at her, then to my mom, who still hadn't said another word, then back to Joyce. "Deal."

Blue butterflies started fluttering around in my stomach as I imagined what this would be like. Anxiety also crept into my chest. In all likelihood, I'd be sharing a bed with the girl I loved more than anything, who saw me as nothing more than a friend, who also may or may not have been dating the other girl standing in this room. Oh boy.


	6. Chloe

My first mate was back and better than ever. Well, minus the whole paralyzed from the waist down part, I guess. Shit. It still didn't seem real, but I'd already, twice, gotten to see her come out of herself more than I'd ever seen her do before. The first time when she told me I needed to stop feeling guilty (though I doubted that would ever happen) and the second time when she told off her parents like a fucking badass when they were talking about going back to Seattle.

I also couldn't help feeling terrified of the thought of her moving in. I'd had a crush on this girl for as long as I could remember, and now I was going to be sharing a bed with her?  _What the hell is happening. And she was always cute, but after five years in Seattle, I mean, wow…_  I'd also come to hugely regret ever telling Rachel how I felt about Max, because now she refused to give me one damned second of peace without teasing me about it. You'd think it'd be awkward having your ex tease you about a new girl, but Rachel and I had gotten past that a long time ago. We dated off and on, before ultimately realizing that, even if we both cared immensely for each other, we just weren't compatible in that sense. We resorted back to being best friends, and our relationship had gotten so much stronger because of it. Max probably didn't even like girls anyway, so it would just be another dead end.

All of this ran through my mind relentlessly as I sat next to Rachel in the corner of Max's hospital room, leaning my head against her shoulder. The nurse was helping Max learn how to get herself in and out of the wheelchair. Max looked so excited the first time she did it. She turned to look at me with this big goofy grin on her face, and holy hell she looked so adorable. I received an elbow to my side courtesy of Rachel who noticed I was staring. My face turned bright red, and Rachel and I started applauding her feat.

It was Max's second full day of wakefulness, and, for a girl who was recently shot and learned she'll never be able to use her legs again, she seemed weirdly ecstatic, like the paralysis was just a minor inconvenience. She still didn't have her full range of motion back yet, and she needed the nurse to help change her bandages. Some of her friends from Blackwell visited the day before. I recognized some of them, like Kate and Dana. They agreed to help Rachel move some of Max's things from her dorm to the house. There was also a boy, Warren I think was his name, who made it painfully obvious how madly in love he was with Max. Rachel took me aside at one point and whispered that he must be Max's boyfriend. I felt that wave of jealousy flow through me as I saw them chatting, but, ultimately, I knew that I could never have Max. Given that she had a boyfriend, she probably didn't swing that way, regardless. Besides, I didn't deserve her. She took a bullet for me, and, regardless of what she or her parents or anyone else told me, I knew it was my fault.

Her parents left earlier today, both saying long goodbyes to Max, me, Mom, and even Rachel, who they'd gotten to know pretty well. Max's mom fruitlessly tried once more to convince Max to return to Seattle, but Mr. Caulfield was able to pull her away. Max had said she was ready to go today, but Dr. Richard Moore (or Doctor Dick as I called him) thought it'd be best for her to at least stay the night, then head out in the morning. Max put up a fight but ultimately accepted.

The nurse looked at Max with approval as she had gotten into her chair all by herself, and she bid us all a farewell. Max swiveled around in her chair, and I saw that adorable grin again, as she started wheeling herself over.

"Here comes speed racer!" I shouted, and Max giggled as she pulled over.

"Any update on the turbo?"

"Just gotta figure out the details." Rachel chimed in. Max looked at Rachel, then at me, then relaxed into her chair with a sigh, heavy with satisfaction, as if she'd finally accomplished some impossible task.

"I'm just so happy you're both here." Beyond the joy on her face, I could also see some immense exhaustion. I reckoned it did have to be pretty damn tiring to learn how to move without your legs. Long Max Silver had a stressful few days.

"What, you think we were gonna abandon you in this place?"

"No, no that's not what I meant." The exhaustion in her eyes seemed to overtake the rest of her face. "It's hard to explain. I just—I wasn't sure the letter would work—" She cut herself off as if she'd said something she wasn't supposed to. I turned to Rachel, only to see her staring back at Max, pale as a ghost.

"Max?" Rachel's voice was quiet but strong. Max kept staring into her lap, her fists clenched tightly. Rachel's voice became louder, "Max, what do you know about Kelly?"  _Who the hell is Kelly?_

Max started to shiver, her head not moving from her lap. "Please." Her voice sounded broken, and I felt fear building up inside of me. Something was wrong, and it had something to do with a letter and a girl named Kelly.

"Max, is she okay? She saved me, I need to know this. Max."  _Saved her? What the hell is she talking about._

"I don't know." Max's voice was even quieter and somehow even more fragile, like she'd break at the slightest touch. I felt Rachel becoming more tense next to me. She needed to stop. I didn't know what's happening, but whatever Rachel was talking about was hurting Max.

"Rachel, stop. You're hurting her. Leave her alone." I put my hand on Rachel's shoulder to hold her back, but she shoved it away.

"Dammit Max!" Rachel screamed, and I froze in fear and confusion. "What do you mean you don't know? If you know about the letter, then you have to, unless—" Rachel stopped suddenly and put a hand to her mouth. "Unless she didn't write it. Max. Did—did you?"

Suddenly Max started thrashing in her chair.

"PLEASE NO! LET ME GO! I'M SORRY! PLEASE DON'T HURT ME!" Max started screaming, and my body threw itself into action. I wrapped my arms around her trying to comfort her, but she shoved me away and knocked over her chair in the process, so she was curled into a ball on the floor. Terrified of her reaction from me touching her, I recoiled and stood frozen, not knowing what to do.

"HELP PLEASE! DON'T TOUCH ME! PLEASE! CHLOE HELP!" At my name, I snapped back into action. I dropped to my knees and wrapped my arms around her shaking body once more. She tried to throw me away, but I held on.

"Max! It's Chloe! It's me! Max, it's me! It's Chloe!" Her eyes were pouring tears, but slowly she stopped thrashing, and her eyes shivered open.

"C-Chloe?" She looked so small. So innocent. So broken.

"Max, it's me. It's Chloe. You're okay."

"Chloe!" She shrieked and threw her arms around me, sobbing into my shirt. "Chloe you were dead. You died. You kept dying. But I made it right. I fixed it. I did it. Chloe."

"Max, I didn't die. You saved me, remember? You're okay. You're okay. I promise." I snapped my head toward Rachel. She was standing, her face pale. "What the hell did you do, Rachel? What the fuck was that about?" But Rachel was still staring at Max.

"Max. You saved me?" Rachel's voice was barely over a whisper. Max froze for a moment, but didn't answer. "Oh God." Rachel dropped to her knees beside me and placed her hand on Max's shoulder. Slowly, Max's sobs slowed and stopped and she lifted her head to look at me, then at Rachel. "Max, can we talk about this?"

"N-not now. Let me get home. Tomorrow. I can explain. Don't tell Chloe yet. It should come from me. I'm sorry. I'm just not strong enough right now." I couldn't help but feel bitter about this.

"Gee, great to be kept in the loop. Thanks guys." Max turned her eyes to me, filled with sadness and apology, and, staring into those brilliant blue eyes, I felt horribly guilty for saying anything.

"I'm s-sorry, Chloe. I think you'll understand when I explain. Just can't now. Too tired." I sighed. Max's big, blue, beautiful doe eyes stared up at me, and it was hard to stay mad at those.

"It's okay. We'll figure it out. Let's just get you back up to your bed, yeah?" Max nodded her head, and I scooped her up into my arms. I saw her eyes slowly close and, almost immediately, she fell asleep in my arms.  _God, she's beautiful._  I heard Rachel cough beside me and realized I was staring again. I carried Max to her bed and laid her down, pulling the blanket up to her chin. I turned to see Rachel grinning ear to ear.

"You are  _so_  in love."

"Oh, shut it."


	7. Rachel

"It's still hard to believe it actually happened. I mean, it was obvious that Nathan hadn't been in his right mind for a while, but I still can't believe he would actually shoot someone! And Max of all people! She was always so shy, hiding in the corners of the classroom, never fighting back when Victoria would bitch at her." Dana was helping Kate and I move Max's things to my car, so I could drop them off at Chloe's place. Normally, I'd be almost as chatty as Dana, but, at the moment, my mind was on other things.

Max wrote Kelly's letter. In less than a day of knowing her, it turned out she'd saved both Chloe's life and mine. I sighed as darker thoughts enter my mind. It also meant that, given what the letter said and given what Max was shouting during what I can only assume was a flashback yesterday, that Max was captured by that motherfucker Jefferson. I tried to find solace in the fact that Jefferson would rot in prison for the rest of his life, but after seeing the look of pure horror on Max's face during her episode, it didn't feel like enough. It hadn't taken long for my dad to find Jefferson after he received the letter. The details in the letter made it pretty easy to identify him as well as that creepy barn with the hidden dungeon. I got shivers just thinking about Max in there, but something still wasn't adding up. Max was in Seattle during all of this, and I was pretty sure her parents would've noticed if she suddenly disappeared for a while then showed back up with PTSD. And it couldn't be that he had set up places like that in other cities, like Seattle, because she perfectly described the one they found here in Arcadia Bay. It was impossible to doubt Max, given how much she knew in addition to the flashbacks, but it did mean that something weird was going on. And I was going to figure it out.

"Rachel, are you okay?" Kate's kind voice and worried expression pulled me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm good. Just thinking."

"About Max?"

"What else?" I sighed as I dropped myself onto the small couch in Max's dorm. Moving everything turned out to be much easier than I'd expected. She really didn't have a ton of stuff I'd need to bring. My mouth nearly dropped open when I saw the dozens of polaroid photos taped to her wall when I first stepped in. Chloe had explained how much Max loved photography, that she would always use an instant camera, and how talented she was. I believed her, but wow. The pictures on her wall were incredible. So we ended up bringing all her photos, her camera, her guitar, her houseplant Lisa, which Kate had been watering while Max was in the hospital, her clothes, and a few other things scattered around the room.

"Well, it looks like we have everything that would make sense to bring. Should we start moving it to the car?" Pushing myself up from the couch, I nodded in agreement.

It ended up only taking two trips, and I said a quick goodbye to Kate and Dana who asked me to tell Max they were thinking of her. For once I drove without any music. As I pulled into the driveway of the Price residence—although, I supposed it was technically the Madsen residence now—it looked like I arrived right on time. Chloe was pushing Max's wheelchair toward the door, and I couldn't help but smile knowing how bad Chloe had the hots for Max. And honestly, I couldn't blame her. It was hard to deny how cute she was. Kate and Dana wouldn't stop talking about how sweet Max was, and, based on the few conversations I'd been able to have with her, they didn't exaggerate one bit. I stepped out of the car, grabbed Max's guitar in one hand and a box of clothes in the other, before following them inside.

"It's just how I remember it, Joyce." Max's voice would sound happy to anyone but me and probably Chloe, who could hear that degree of tension from knowing the conversation that was about to happen.

"Oh, Max, it's so good to have you back. Now, remember, this is your home too now, so make yourself comfortable, while we go help Rachel get the rest of your things." It looked like Max had already become the master of her new ride, because she swiveled around unbelievably fast to look at Joyce, and I heard that firm tone rise up in her voice again.

"No. I can help."

It was Chloe who piped up this time, "Max, you just got out of the hospital. We got this. Just chill inside for a bit."

"No, Chloe. I'm not going to live my life letting other people do all my work for me just cause I'm stuck in this thing." She gestured to her chair, and, once again, I was amazed by how strong-willed she could be. "At least let me carry Lisa or something."

Chloe sighed. "Fine, but if you hurt yourself, the tickle monster will be relentless, so you better watch out." Despite the lighthearted remarks, I could hear the same tension in Chloe's voice that I did in Max's.

Max wheeled herself outside and grabbed Lisa. After a few trips, we were able to get everything inside. Chloe and I agreed to move her stuff upstairs into Chloe's bedroom, while Max spoke to Joyce. When we made it upstairs, I leaned Max's guitar against the wall by the window covered by the tattered American flag and turned to Chloe.

"So, you excited to start sharing a bed with your crush?" Chloe whirled around and threw one of Max's shoes at me before collapsing onto the bed.

"Honestly? Terrified. I mean, I'm supposed to be the tough punk girl, but she makes me go all gooey." I couldn't help but laugh at her exasperation, "oh shut it Rachel." Eventually the giggles faded, and the atmosphere turned much more solemn.

"Chloe, I'm sorry I couldn't tell you about what Max and I were saying, but I also think I understand why Max wanted to be the one to say it." Chloe let out a grunt of acknowledgement as she continued to stare at the ceiling. "Just—I don't think this is going to be an easy conversation, especially for Max." Instead of responding, Chloe lifted herself up from the bed and turned to me.

"Let's just finish getting her stuff up here, then we can talk." A few trips later, everything was moved, and Chloe bounded down the stairs. "Ahoy, Long Max Silver! Are you ready to venture into the past and discover the secrets of the bedroom?" I noticed Max shiver when Chloe mentions the past, but she quickly shook it off. She held up her index finger like a hook and closed one eye.

"Arr, Captain Bluebeard! I'm always ready!" With that, she started to roll herself over to the stairs, but she didn't get very far before Chloe rushed over to sweep her up into her arms. I hear Max let out a squeal and squirm for a moment before relaxing her head onto Chloe's shoulder and throwing her arms around her neck.  _Holy hell, Chloe's heart must be ready to burst out of her chest, right about now._  When they reached the stairs, Max lifted her head to look at me.

"Rachel, do you think you can bring the chair upstairs." Chloe responded before I got the chance.

"Actually, there's no need. Mom went ahead and got you one for upstairs." Max's face turned red as she looks back at Joyce.

"Joyce, you really didn't have to do that." Her voice sounded anxious, and the shyness that seemed to be everyone's word of choice when describing her made itself obvious.

"Max, you're a part of this family now," Joyce called over from the living room. "We want you to be comfortable."

"Thank you."

"Enough talk! Let's go!" Chloe shouted, and she started hurrying up the stairs, Max in her arms. I followed them upstairs and smirk at the fact that Chloe passed the chair at the top of the steps and carried Max straight into her room, laying her on her bed. I followed them inside and shut the door behind me. Max was looking around the room, a big smile on her face.

"Now this. This is Chloe's room." I wondered how much her room had changed since Max was last in here. She didn't seem surprised, so it couldn't be too different.

"Chloe and Max's room now. But don't get any ideas! Just cause you live here doesn't mean imma let you contaminate my place with all your hipster shit!" I heard Max laughing as she laid on her back, looking up at the ceiling. Slowly, her laughter died out, and the room became silent, all three of us knowing what's about to happen. Max was the first to move, and she lifted her head up from the mattress, using her hands to push herself to the edge of the bed and into a seated position.

"So. I guess it's time for us to talk now. Chloe, I'm sorry for leaving you in the dark earlier. I think Rachel understands part of what I'm about to say, and I'd imagine you're frustrated at being left out. Although, I'm pretty sure there are worse things to be left out of. Anyway." Chloe and I were sitting on either side of her, and she took a few deep breaths before continuing. "Chloe, you might remember that a while back there was a teacher at Blackwell. His name was—was—" a rush of air was pushed through Max's teeth before she turned to me, "Rachel can you write down the name. I—I can't hear it."  _Fuck, this is bad._  Max's head returned to her lap, and I pulled out the notes app on my phone, writing 'Mark Jefferson,' before passing my phone to Chloe. Chloe took the phone and almost instantly threw it back at me.

"NO! Max no! That fucker! He—"

"Chloe!"A chill rushed through my body, as Max raises her voice. She was staring at Chloe, whose face had turned pale, hands covering her mouth, terror in her eyes. "You can't interrupt me. Please. It's hard to talk about, and I don't know if I can get through it all if you do." Chloe slumped her back and takes one of Max's hands into her own.

"Okay."

"This teacher. You might know some of the details, but essentially he would drug teenage girls, drag them to an underground bunker under a barn in the middle of nowhere, and take pictures of them. At least, I wish he only took pictures. He would beat the girls and he would strap them to a chair and he would take all their clothes and he would—he would—he would rape them! And this fucking fuck. Fuck! This fucker would take pictures of the girls through all of this and keep them for his stupid fucking collection. Then when he was done, he would either let the girls go or kill them if they were aware enough throughout it all to be able to identify him." The room went silent.

"I was one of those girls." I heard Chloe start to raise her voice, but Max shushed her before she could say anything. "But I was able to escape. Before I escaped, though, I saw his files. I saw the pictures of all the other girls. I also saw a list of names, of the girls he was going to target next. This is where Rachel comes in." She lifted her head to look at me, before quickly turning it back down. "Rachel's name was on that list. That's how I recognized her immediately when I woke up at the hospital. When I finally got away, I knew I couldn't let him hurt anyone else if I had the power to stop him. So I started doing some research, and I found out that Rachel's dad was the DA, which actually worked out perfectly. He would have the power to find and stop him, and he was personally invested enough to make sure it got done."

Max took a second to breathe, and I noticed Chloe sobbing into her shoulder. I felt like I should be crying as well, but there was only numbness. Then Max dove right back into the story, "so I decided to write a letter to him that would tell him what he needed to know. I couldn't write as myself. I couldn't be recognized, so I remembered the files. The most recent girl before me was named Kelly, and, from what I could gather, she was almost certainly dead. So I wrote a letter as Kelly, making up some details along the way to make it sound believable. I told him Rachel was in danger, and I gave him enough details to identify Jef—the teacher as well as the barn. At the end of the letter I made it sound like I, Kelly, killed myself, so they wouldn't come looking for me—or for her, rather.

"So that's the story. That's why I recognized Rachel. That's why Rachel reacted when I accidentally mentioned the letter; her dad must've shown it to her. And that's why I had a flashback in the middle of that conversation. So that's the story. Brilliantly told, I'm sure. Should enter it in some competitions, maybe win some spending money. Fuck."

The room was silent aside from the sound of Chloe's sobs.

"Max?" I heard my own voice, quiet and afraid. Both Max and Chloe's heads turned to me, all four eyes flooded with tears. "You know I believe everything you said. And you saved my life, and I'll never be able to thank you enough for that. But there's one thing that I've been thinking about, that I can't understand. How—"

"How could all this have happened if I was in Seattle the entire time?" Max stared at me, and there's some emotion in her eyes that I can't quite identify. I nod. "That," Max exhaled and let her body flop back down onto the bed. "That is a story for another day. I'm sorry I can't give you more, but the answer to that is extremely hard to explain and even harder to believe. Sometimes I can't even believe it myself."

"That's okay. You can tell us when you're ready." Chloe and I both flopped onto the bed next to her.

"Chloe, you're letting me down." Max's voice sounded suddenly serious, and Chloe flipped herself onto her side to look at Max, her face panicked.

"Max, Max what's wrong. I'm sorry. What did I do? What did you need?" Chloe's voice was frantic as she searched Max's face for an answer.

"Really Chloe? You're really gonna make me be the one to say 'that's enough of that mushy shit?'" The panic in Chloe's eyes dissipated, and her face relaxed into a grin, as she playfully slapped Max's arm.

"Oh, fuck you." Max was grinning madly, biting down softly on her bottom lip, and I burst into laughter. Soon all three of us were in hysterics, and all the pain and tension that occupied the room just moments ago was shooed away.

"C'mon," Max said, pushing herself up again. "It's my first day back. Let's do something fun."


	8. Max

"Dammit Chloe! How are you so good at this!" I tossed my Wii controller at Chloe, who looked at me with a shit-eating grin plastered across her face, after winning yet another damn game of Mario Kart, Rachel laughing all the while. I remembered when Chloe and I first got this Wii back when it was first released and spent hours and hours playing it.

"Nah, Max, you're just rusty. I've had five years to practice this shit!" I couldn't help the smile on my face as I relaxed back into my chair and closed my eyes. Chloe's punk music was blasting from the speakers behind me, and I tried to soak in every last detail of this moment. Rachel and Chloe were bickering back and forth on either side of me, giggling and playfully hitting each other.

It still seemed hard to believe that my plan had actually worked, and even better than I had intended it to at that, considering I was still alive. Rachel and Chloe were alive and seemed close as ever. And I slept for eleven days without waking up to an apocalyptic wasteland, which meant that the storm didn't come either!

"You good, Max?" I heard Chloe's voice and opened my eyes to her worried expression.

"Hella good." I replied, a big smile on my face.

"Did you actually just say 'hella'? Holy shit, Rachel, Mad Max just said hella! I think I'm starting to become a good bad influence on you." I giggled at the memory of her saying that the first time.

"So Rachel, how are things at Blackwell?"

"People seem pretty shaken up about it, except for maybe Victoria, who's acting her normal, horribly unpleasant self." At this, Chloe muttered  _that bitch_  under her breath. "They cancelled school for two weeks after—you know. And get this! 'In light of recent events…'" I laughed at Rachel's remarkably accurate imitation of Principal Wells. "They're actually gonna get all their handicap shit up to code, so you can take the school by storm when you get back!" I could hear the optimism in her voice, but I couldn't feel it. I let out a sigh.

"What's wrong? I thought that'd be good news."

"No—yeah, yeah it is. I'm just not really looking forward to being the girl in the wheelchair for the rest of my time there." Rachel went silent at that, but Chloe threw her arm around me.

"Well how about being the hella fucking badass who took a damn bullet to save her best friend?" I smiled at this.

"Yeah. Yeah, I can live with that." I felt myself relax again, and my mind began to wander. I was still surprised that I was able to get through the J—the teacher story without falling back into a flashback. Unfortunately, I knew there were some holes in that story which Rachel seemed to pick up on, which meant that at some point I'd have to explain that I was some kind of freakish anomaly who can control time, if I wanted to give them the full truth. And they both deserved the full truth. But for now, that could wait.

"Chloe! Girls! Dinner's about ready!" Joyce's voice called up from downstairs.

"Down in a sec, Ma!" Chloe yelled back, before grabbing a remote and turning off the music. She spread her arms wide and looked at me, "Max, my liege, your chariot awaits!" I giggled as she rushed toward me, but as her arms curled around me, I felt a sharp pain in my chest. I winced, and Chloe immediately let go and dropped to her knee to look me in the eye. I saw the worry all over her face. "Shit, Max, are you okay? Is it bleeding again? Do we need to go to the hospital? Shit, Rachel get the car started!" I couldn't help but start laughing again, and Chloe's worry turned to confusion.

"Jeez, Chloe, I'm okay. It just still hurts a little." Chloe instantly released a breath she was holding and relief floods her face.

"Sorry Maximus. I just—I don't know—you scared us all really bad, and I—I just don't want to lose you again." Chloe's hand moved to the back of her neck like it does when she's nervous, and my smile grew bigger.

"Don't worry, Captain. I'm here for the long haul." Chloe lifted her head and smiled back at me before lifting me again from my chair, much gentler this time and carried me through the hall and down the stairs.

The mouthwatering scent overwhelmed me as we neared the kitchen, and, even though for me it had only been a few week, my stomach was burning for more of Joyce's cooking. Chloe seated me in the wheelchair, before her and Rachel headed toward the kitchen to help. I started rolling myself after them, until Joyce spotted me.

"Oh no you don't Max. It's your first day back, and you need to take it easy." I began to retort, but Joyce cut me off. "I know you don't want us to treat you any different, and you can be sure that we won't. But this is a special day, and you're gonna get over to that table and make yourself comfortable, you hear me?" It was always hard to argue with her when she becomes set on something.

I wheeled myself over to the table and angled my chair so I could push myself into the kitchen chair. As I started to lift myself, Joyce called at me again.

"Max, honey, you don't need to do that! Just stay in your chair, and we can move the other to the side." I heard her put kept pushing myself.

"Sorry, Joyce, but I need to practice, and I want this to be as—normal as possible." I pushed the words out through heavy breaths before I collapsed into the kitchen chair with exhaustion. Something rustled behind me, and, for the first time, I noticed David standing in the living room.

"Hello Max. After dinner, I'll start fixing up the couch, so you can have a comfortable place to sleep while you're here." This earned an instant response from Chloe, as she yelled back from the kitchen.

"Oh, hell no! Max is sleeping with me!" I saw Rachel throw a glance at Chloe, and for a moment it looked like Chloe turned red.  _It must have just been the light_. "I mean—we did all the time when we were younger. It'll be just like old times." She finished, quieter than she started. I saw Joyce look at David, and he let out a resigning breath.

"Alright. But no funny business from you two, you hear me?" He stuck out two fingers, pointing at me and Chloe, and I nodded quickly. I felt my face start to turn red as well, as my mind wandered as to what exactly Chloe and I sharing a bed could entail, but I pushed the thoughts away. Chloe had Rachel, and she only thought of me as a friend. That was that.

Chloe, Rachel, and Joyce brought over the plates, and everyone immediately jumped in. It seemed like dinner passed quickly. We all talked and laughed. David was the only one who looked uncomfortable, and he mostly ate staring at his plate. I didn't say much either, but I hadn't felt this happy in a long time.  _It really worked, and things are really okay._

Before long, all the food was gone, and Chloe, Rachel, and I made our way back to Chloe's room. While, Chloe and Rachel were bickering over what music to play, I spotted my camera on Chloe's desk. I rolled myself over to it and started to focus the two of them in the lens. The sunset was leaking through the window, reflecting off the blue of Chloe's hair and the blond of Rachel's, and, for a moment, I almost forgot to take the shot, so entranced by the vibrancy of the moment.

 _Click_.

Rachel and Chloe both swiveled around, and I grinned back at them, camera in hand. The photo slowly rolled out from the camera, and I stared at it. Almost instantly, Chloe was at my side and snatched it from my hand.

"Holy shit, Max. This is incredible." My face turned red, and Rachel smirked at me.

"You should see the rest of them! They were all over the wall in Max's dorm!" Rachel dove to the desk where a small box containing all of the pictures from my room was resting. I tried to hurry after her, but I was too slow in my wheelchair. Rachel tossed it to Chloe. I tried to grab it away from her, but she held it over her head so I couldn't reach.

"Well that's a cheap move." I muttered, pretending to be mad at her. "You know I can't reach up there anymore." Chloe grinned at me.

"Well that's what you get for hiding your hella amazing talent from me! Now get your cute butt over to the bed, and we're going through all of these!"  _Did Chloe just call me cute?_  I see Rachel's eyes shined up at her, while Chloe glared back, her face turning pink. "Shush, let's do this." As much as I liked to believe Chloe thought I was cute in that way, I knew she was with Rachel, and I knew I was no match for her. I groaned and pushed myself onto the bed, where Chloe started to flip through the pictures, Rachel and I on either side of her. They started pointing things out and praising them, but my mind was on other things. With each photo, I could feel the memory drawing me to it, and I knew that with just a bit of focus I could jump straight into it. I sighed and felt the breeze from the open window drifting through my hair.

Chloe turned to another photo, and I froze. A blue butterfly. Perched on the edge of a bucket. In a school bathroom. I could see Chloe and Rachel praising it. Their mouths were moving, but I heard nothing. My eyes began to flood, as the photo brought back all the memories of Chloe dying in that bathroom. All the times I had tried to change things but failed. All the pain. I started to sob, and I felt Chloe's worried hand on my shoulder. The world was a messy blur through my tears. I heard her trying to comfort me, but I couldn't understand the words. But then I saw a blue flicker of movement, and I blinked my eyes to clear the tears. I noticed that Chloe and Rachel had frozen as well, because perched on top of the dead center of the photo was a blue butterfly, exactly like the one in the photo.

A second passed, and no one moved an inch. Then, as quickly as it came, the butterfly lifted itself and flew back through the window. Everything started with that butterfly. And then it came back. I felt a surge of hope flow through me.  _Does this—could this really mean—_

"Is it over?" I heard my own voice, quiet and hesitant. For a moment, no one answered.

"Wh-what was that?" I heard Chloe's confused voice, and I turned to look at her. She looked afraid, but I felt an immense smile growing on my face.

"It's over! It's finally over! I did it!" I knew none of these words would make sense to Chloe or Rachel, but I couldn't help myself. "It's over! It's really over!" I threw myself into Chloe and squeezed her tight.  _I did it! I really did it!_  I knew they both were still confused, but this was a moment of triumph. I released Chloe and saw them both staring at me blankly.

I let myself fall backward onto the bed and splayed my arms out, laughing.

"Uh, Max, what the hell are you talking about? What's going on?"

"It doesn't matter! It doesn't matter anymore! It's over!" I knew my answer wasn't enough. "Soon, I can explain everything. Just not right now. This is a happy moment." I could see Rachel and Chloe look at each other confused. Rachel shrugged, and they both joined me lying on the bed.


	9. Chloe

I didn't know what the hell was going on with Max. But she seemed weirdly happy, and, for the time being, that was enough for me. It was obvious that something weird was going on, with the question of her being both in Seattle and Arcadia Bay at once, the butterfly, the words she was saying not making any sense. She said she'd give us answers at some point, so I guessed that we'd just have to wait.

Rachel left after the butterfly thing went down, and I made the horrible mistake of walking her out, which gave her the perfect opportunity to tease me about sleeping with Max. Shit. I don't know how the hell I'm supposed to get through the night, let alone all the nights to follow. It takes all my effort just to keep my eyes on her face while she talks, and now I'm supposed to share a bed with her? I mean, I'm fucking thrilled, but holy hell I'm terrified. I knew who I was. I knew I never failed to fuck things up, but I couldn't ruin this, not with Max.

I'd done a pretty bang up job at hiding it, but my guilt was strong as ever. I had hated this girl for years after she left me for Seattle, then she miraculously showed up out of nowhere and saved my life, all the while having been tortured by a psycho fuck of a teacher and having saved Rachel's life as well.

I leaned against the window, cigarette in my mouth, while I waited for her to get out of the bathroom. I heard the door open, but when I saw Max, her head was hung and she didn't look at me as she pushed herself into the bedroom.

"C-Chloe?" Her voice was almost inaudible, and it sounded so afraid. I rushed to her side and got down on a knee. I put my finger under her chin and lifted her head. Her face was bright red.

"Max, what is it? Are you okay?"

"I-I need your help. The bandage. I can do the one on my front, but I can't reach my back."

"Oh, that's okay. I can do that. But I don't know how."

"Here." Max rolled over to the desk and showed me the supplies for changing the bandage, before teaching me how to apply it. When I thought I understood, I told her I was ready. I held my breath as she started to roll up her shirt, revealing the smooth, pale skin beneath. Realizing I'd been staring, I placed a hand next to the current bandage to steady myself. Her skin was so soft, and my mind started running wild with images of me rubbing my hands over the rest of her body. I blinked a few times to bring myself back to the present, and I started to slowly peel off the bandage.

I couldn't help but gasp when I saw the horrible red mark on her beautiful skin. I knew I had made a mistake when I felt her body start to shake as she sobbed.

"I-it's hideous! I know it is! I'm hideous! You hate me!" The sound of her degrading herself like this was torture.

"Max, I could never hate you. You're not hideous Max. You're beautiful, so beautiful. And this. This is not a mark of shame. This is a mark of you saving my life. This is a mark of love." Slowly her cries started to lessen, and she muttered at me to continue. I finished applying the bandage and pulled down her shirt, before swiveling her around to face me. Her face was red with tears, but she seemed to have stopped crying.

I threw my arms around her in a hug, and I felt her squeeze back. I tried to memorize every detail of the sensation of her body pressed against mine. Her chest pressed against mine. She's really filled out in the past five years… Max started to let go, and I reluctantly stood back.

"Thank you, Chloe." She finally met my eyes, and I could see the hint of a smile on her lips. Those lips I couldn't seem to take my damn eyes off of. Dammit Chloe, you're supposed to be a hella rad punk. So why do all my instincts turn to mush when I look at Max?

Max yawned, and stretched her arms up over her head. Can she stop being so damn cute for one second?

"I'll take that to mean you're ready for bed?" She sleepily nodded at me, and I helped her into the bed and under the sheets. She curled herself into a ball, using her hands to pull her legs in, and I had to catch myself ogling at her again, before I turned off the lights and joined her. My eyes had barely closed when I heard her tiny voice.

"Chloe, I'm scared."

"Hey Max, you're okay. You're safe."

"I know. It's just—every time I close my eyes, I feel like he's right there, standing over me, watching me." She shuddered in the sheets next to me, and a burning hatred rose up inside me. Fuck you Jefferson, you piece of shit. "Can you hold me?" Her voice was barely more than a whisper, but she didn't need to ask me twice, considering it was all I'd been thinking about doing all day—well, that and a little extra… I wrapped my arms around her and felt her body gradually relax into my hold.

"Always."


	10. Max

The next few days seemed to go by much too quickly. Classes at Blackwell had started up again, which meant that I saw a lot less of Rachel. Their "accessibility upgrades" weren't finished yet, which meant that I still couldn't go back, but I didn't feel too choked up about that considering I got to spend all my time with Chloe.

I had texted Kate to let me know what they were talking about in class, so at least I wouldn't be 100% lost when I got back. Her and Dana came over to visit a few times, and it felt good to see them. I didn't even think of it at the time, but I realized that stopping Jefferson from hurting Rachel also meant that he couldn't touch Kate. She seemed so much stronger and happier, and my heart sang every time I saw her smile.

Chloe and Rachel brought me to the Two Whales, and I had to pretend that it was my first time there in five years. Thankfully, as time went on, I'd been having to pretend like that much less, as they introduced me to all these things again.

I was still getting the nightmares and had woken up Chloe a few times, but they were much less intense than they had been in the past. Firewalk was playing through Chloe's stereo, as she smoked by the window, while the mid-morning sunlight leaked through the panes. My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I weaseled it out of my pocket.

**Rachel**

_I'm sorry Max. I thought we made everyone delete it. Someone's sending around the video._

**Max**

_?_

I frowned. My first thought was the video of Kate, but that didn't make any sense. That never happened in this timeline, and Rachel wouldn't have known that I knew about it if it did.

"Early morning texts with your boyfriend?" I heard Chloe's voice from the window, but she didn't look at me.

"Boyfriend? What are you talking about?"

"You know that kid who visited you in the hospital. Walter or something?"

"Oh God, no. Absolutely not. I mean he's nice and all, but no. He's just not good at taking hints." I responded probably much too quickly, and Chloe turned around to face me, a grin on her face. "It was just Rachel. She mentioned something about a video. I don't know."

Chloe's eyes grew wide, and her smile vanished, when I mentioned the video, but before she can respond I received another text, this time from an unknown number, with a single video attached. I pressed play and saw my own limp body, covered in blood being lifted onto a stretcher and rolled out of the school onto an ambulance, while Chloe runs after me shouting, her shirt soaked in my blood.

"Oh. That video." Chloe moved over to sit next to me, and I leaned my head into the comfortable nook between her neck and shoulder.

"Yeah. That video." Chloe's tone was now heavy. "Damn, I'm sorry Max. We did what we could to force people to delete it, but I guess we expected too much from some of those assholes at Blackwell. It had been over two weeks. I thought we were in the clear." She sighed and wrapped her arm around me. I closed my eyes and relished her touch.

"It's okay. Thank you for trying, anyway." My eyes opened, and I turned my face mischievously toward Chloe's. "Speaking of Rachel though, how are things going between you two?"

"Huh? Things are fine I guess. Why—OH! Did you think? No, we're not together! I mean, we sorta used to be, but things just got complicated, and we just decided we're both more comfortable as friends."

I knew I shouldn't have been excited to hear that they broke up, but I felt my heart start to race. Chloe turned her head to look at me, and I realized how close our faces are. I don't remember telling my brain to lean forward, but before I knew it, ecstasy shot through my body, as I felt my lips press against Chloe's. At first, they just brushed each other, but slowly, the pressure built, and I felt Chloe's hand run through my hair, while my arms wrapped around her. Suddenly, we separated, and I found myself staring into Chloe's eyes, both of us out of breath.

"Wowsers." was all I could bring myself to mutter.

"You dork! I just kiss you, and all you can say for yourself is 'wowsers'?!" I broke into a huge smile, which Chloe mirrored. Her hands slipped under my armpits, and I yelped as she lifted me and moved me to sit on her lap, before our mouths were once again pressed together. Time, somewhat ironically, seemed to lose all meaning, as I released myself entirely into her kiss. I held her face between my hands, while hers rubbed all over my back, still being careful to avoid the bandage.

We separated again, and both of us collapsed onto the bed, smiling and laughing.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that." Chloe's voice was still very out of breath, and my smile grew even wider.

"Right back at ya!" We both slowly caught our breath, before Chloe started laughing again.

"Oh Lord, Rachel's gonna lose her mind. She's been teasing me about you since Day One."

"Well I suspect we can have a bit of fun with that…" I replied, in an ominous tone.

"I like the sound of this!"

"Two Whales. Tomorrow. With Rachel. Everything's normal, and we spring it on her when she least expects it."

"Damn Max, since when are you the one with all the deviously brilliant ideas?"

"Well, I've had a pretty good teacher" I smirked back at her, with a wink. And now, I could definitively say, that I had never felt happier.


	11. Chloe

_Holy shit! I can't believe I actually freaking kissed Max! And she kissed me back! And she apparently never had a boyfriend in the first place! And, given the fact that she kissed me, she has to be into at least one girl! And she devised a brilliant plan to mess with Rachel!_

My knee was bouncing up and down relentlessly in anticipation for Rachel to show up. Max was to my right and looked as excited as I felt.  _Holy hell, she's cute._  I rehearsed the plan in my head one more time:  _Rachel comes in, and we order our food like everything is normal. At some point while we're eating, Max "accidentally" knocks her fork off the table and asks Rachel to pick it up, since she can't do it herself. As soon as Rachel's head is under the table, Max and I start kissing, and BOOM! Revenge achieved!_

The door swung open, and Rachel moved in. Max and I turned to each other suppressing laughs, before we both put our straight faces back on when Rachel spotted us and moved to the table.

"I'm really sorry about the video, Max."

"It's totally fine. I guess it was bound to get out at some point, but it was nice of you to try at least."

The waitress Vivian came to our table to take our order. Mom was off today, and thank God. I definitely was not ready for her to see me kissing Max, and I didn't think Max was either. Max ordered the waffle, while both Rachel and I ordered the bacon and eggs. We all were talking like usual, but it was impossible to stay focused on the conversation, knowing what was about to happen. Max was playing the role like a goddess though, and if it weren't for that knowing glint in her eye, I never would have suspected anything was off.

Vivian returned with our food, and we all began to chow down.  _Clink_. Max uttered a curse under her breath, as her fork fell to the floor.

"Rachel, could you get that for me?"

Rachel bent down to retrieve the fork, and Max quickly turned to me and threw herself into a kiss, when I heard the fork hit the ground a second time. I pushed myself away from Max, to see Rachel with an absolutely priceless look on her face. She sat there, gaping and stammering, while both Max and I keeled over in laughter.

"What!? You two!? Seriously!? Holy SHIT! You assholes!" Max and I laughed even harder at her reaction. Eventually we were able to calm down, and I looked back at Rachel, sitting with her arms crossed.

"And now we're even." I saw a grin start to make its way onto her face.

"Well played, friend."

"Actually, little Max over here deserves all the credit!" I threw my arm around Max, as she turned her bright red face to her lap in embarrassment. "Her idea, start to finish!"

"Damn Max, I admit that was good. But you better watch your back now, because you know I'm gonna get you back." Max lifted her gaze to meet Rachel's, both girls smiling brightly.

"Nah, Max has got nothing to worry about now that she's got her sexy punk girlfriend to watch out for her 24/7!" Max beamed up at me, and my heart nearly melted. We all started eating again, but, before long, another face I recognized walked through the door and made his way to the other side of the diner without spotting me. It looked like Max noticed him too, because she turned her head to look at me, a hard expression on her face.

"How are things between you and Frank now?" Her tone was serious and took me by surprise.

"I guess we've sorta come to a truce—wait. How do you know Frank?" I turned to Max in concern, and I could see Rachel doing the same. Max muttered a curse under her breath. "I know you well enough to know that you're not going around buying drugs, and I know that neither Rachel and I would've introduced you."

"Shit. I think it's probably time for me to explain all this, otherwise I'll just keep messing up." It seemed like Max is mostly talking to herself. "Let's finish our food, and then we can talk. We need to go somewhere where we can talk and won't be bothered." I turned to Rachel, and it looked like she has the same idea.

"Max, I think Rachel and I have the perfect place." As soon as I said this, Max's head snapped up, and I could see a manic fear in her eyes.

"No! Not the junkyard! I can't! Just—just not right now." Her voice turned from a shout to a mumble as she finished speaking, and I could feel the anxiety growing inside me.

"Max, how the hell do you know about the junkyard? What the hell is going on!?" Max pressed her hands to her forehead and sighed.

"Look, I know none of this makes sense, but I'll explain everything. Let's just finish eating, and we can go—we'll go to the lighthouse. That seems like the right place to do this." I turned to Rachel, who looked just as confused and concerned as I was.

"Fine, Max. But you better have a damn good explanation for all this."

"Trust me. I do." With that, we all hurriedly finished our food and made our way to my truck.

No one says a word while I drove us over to the lighthouse, and Max stared into her lap for the entire ride. When we reached the lighthouse parking, I helped Max into her chair and pushed her up the trail to the base of the lighthouse. When we reached the top, Max took over and pushed herself far too close to the edge of the cliff for my comfort, before swiveling around to face Rachel and I, both of us sitting on the bench.

"Rachel," Max started, "you asked me how all of what I talked about before could have happened if I was in Seattle the entire time. The answer to that is the same as the answer to how I know Frank and how I know about the junkyard. Fortunately, it's a pretty simple answer. Unfortunately, the explanation is much, much more complicated." She paused, and Rachel and I both leaned forward expectantly.

"I can control time."  _Really? All that build up, just for a cheap one-liner?_

"Max, come on. This shit is serious. Don't fucking joke about it." I kept waiting for her face to break into a laugh, but I only saw annoyance.

"God, I promised myself I wouldn't do shit like this." All of a sudden, a blur surrounded Max, and she vanished.

"Believe me now?" Both Rachel and I leapt up from our seats to see Max impossibly behind us, a slight smirk on her face.

"Oh shit. Oh shit oh shit oh shit. You weren't kidding, were you?" Max shook her head and slowly rolled herself around so she was back in front of us, while Rachel and I stood there frozen.

"You can sit down. The show's over." Rachel and I rigidly collapsed on to the bench unthinkingly, unbelievingly staring at Max. "I froze time, and rolled myself over there, before unfreezing it. I'm guessing to you it looked like I just vanished and appeared behind you?" I forced myself to nod.

"Max, start from the beginning. Tell us everything." A big smile started to grow on Max's face.

"That's what you said the first time," she replied, giggling.

"The first time?" Rachel finally chimed in.

"The original timeline. Some background. Everything is the same, except Jefferson isn't caught, and Rachel—" Max shuddered, before continuing, "Rachel has been missing for six months. Chloe, you've been searching for her nonstop. I'm at Blackwell, and one day during a photography class with J-Jeff-Jefferson, when I have a vision. A storm. A huge, massive storm destroying Arcadia Bay. Suddenly I'm back in class. The bell rings, and I make my way to the bathroom to calm down after the vision. I see a blue butterfly fly in through the window, and I take a picture. Then, Nathan walks in freaking out, followed by a certain blue-haired girl you may or may not know. I hide behind a stall and peek around the corner to see what's happening, when he whips out a gun and shoots you." Max looked up at me with tears in her eyes, "He shot you Chloe. You were dead.

"When I see it, I throw my arm out in front of me in panic, desperately hoping for it all to go away, when I find myself back in Jefferson's class. The exact class. I knew then that I was back in time, because I knew exactly what would happen and what everyone would say. I ran to the bathroom, knowing I had to save you, so before he had the chance to shoot, I pulled the fire alarm. It worked, and you were okay. We met and became friends again, and I explained about the power and agreed to help you find Rachel. We find clues and think we're getting closer, but weird shit keeps happening in the town. There's a freak snowfall, an unplanned eclipse, beached whales, and all sorts of things."

Max continued, while Rachel and I sat, listening in silence. She explained Kate's video and her suicide attempt. She explained meeting Frank. She explained how she was able to travel back through photos, how she tried to save Dad, but then was forced to kill me instead, so she had to let him die. She explained breaking into Blackwell and swimming in the pool. She explained how they found Jefferson's dark room in the barn and how they suspected Nathan. She explained finding Rachel's body buried in the junkyard. She explained how she watched me get shot by Jefferson, then getting drugged and taken to the darkroom herself. She explained jumping back through a photo to warn David in time to stop Jefferson. She explained how the storm came anyway and was faced with an impossible decision: to save Arcadia Bay, or let me die. She explained our kiss at the end of the world. She explained how she couldn't accept that decision and how she lived through that week dozens of times trying to find some way out. She explained ultimately needing to let me die and planning to kill herself before she had the idea to sacrifice herself by jumping in front of me. She explained how she couldn't let me be alone and decided she needed to find a way to save Rachel. She explained how she jumped back in time to write the Kelly letter and send it to Rachel's dad.

Everyone was silent.

"So. Does that answer your questions?"

"You—you went through all of that just to save me?" My voice sounded weak and fragile. Max looked at me with tears in her eyes.

"Chloe, you mean more to me than life. I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat." She smiled through her tears, "but everything's okay now! This whole nightmare started with that butterfly in the bathroom, and I think, when we were going through those photos and the butterfly landed on that picture, I think that meant that it's finally over. That now we can finally be allowed to just live." I pushed myself up from the bench and threw myself into Max's arms, Rachel right behind me, so that we were all sobbing into each other.

Eventually the tears slowed, and Rachel and I made our way back to the bench. My mind was still going a million miles an hour trying to process what Max just told us. It's Rachel who speaks first.

"So, how do your powers, like, work?"

"From what I can tell, there are three aspects to it. The first I discovered was the rewind. Essentially, I hold up my hand like this," she held up her right hand in front of her, "and just sorta pull back with my mind. Then there's the freeze, where I can move around while time stops. It's the same sorta process as the rewind, but it's a different kind of will and focus. Then there's the photo jump. I just sorta focus on the image, and I start to feel the memory come to life. As I become more focused, it becomes more real, until I'm sorta sucked inside that moment.

"They all have their limitations though. With the rewinds, I can't go back further than two or three minutes, and it's the same with the freeze. It's hard to hold longer than a few minutes. With the photo jump, I can never leave the scene in which the original picture was taken, and I'll be sucked back to the present moment after a bit.

"There's also something I guess you could call time fatigue. If I use any of the powers too often or hold them for too long, I'll start to get nosebleeds or headaches or even pass out and not be able to use them until I'm rested. There's still a lot I don't understand, like why I even have this power in the first place, but I think that's the best I can explain it."

_So my girlfriend has superpowers? I can get used to this!_

"And don't get any ideas, Chloe! I know how you think. I promised myself when I woke up from my coma that I would only use my powers for life or death situations. I messed up way too much in the other timelines by using my powers for little things, and I won't make that mistake again. I was really hoping that I wouldn't have to show you my powers this time, but I don't think you would have believed me if I hadn't."

"Damn, girl! Do your powers include mind reading? Cause I was totally just thinking about all the shit we could pull with this!" Max smiled back at me.

"Fortunately, no. I'm not sure I could handle everything that goes on inside your head." Rachel immediately started laughing, and soon Max and I joined her.

_Things just got a whole lot weirder._


	12. Rachel

_So Max and Chloe are dating and Max has super powers?_  I wasn't about to complain about either seeing how happy Max made Chloe and considering the fact that I would've been dead if Max hadn't gotten her powers… It hurt my brain just trying to work out how all the timelines line up, and I couldn't understand how Max managed to stay sane after going through all of that.

I sighed and leaned my head against Max, while PissHead played through the speakers in Chloe's truck, as she drove us back to her place. I let my eyes close. It was barely noon, but I already felt exhausted just from listening to Max's story. Chloe pelted Max with more questions about her powers, while Max answered them the best she could. When I opened my eyes, Chloe was pulling into the driveway.

The car stopped, and none of us moved to get out. Finally, Max broke the silence.

"So, uh, are we going in?" Her voice snapped both Chloe and I out of our thoughts, and we made our way out of the car. Chloe grabbed Max's chair from the back of the truck and helped her into it. We made our way back into Chloe's room, and Max collapsed onto her bed. She looked exhausted, and I couldn't blame her. I felt tired just listening to her story; I couldn't imagine how she felt having to relive all of it.

I heard Max let out a sigh before speaking, "do you understand now why I waited so long to tell you?" Her voice was quiet, but I thought I could make out a hint of relief.

"Yeah, yeah I do," Chloe replied. "I just wish you didn't feel like you had to hide all that from us. I mean, that's heavy shit. Honestly, I don't know how you managed to stay sane all this time, keeping it all to yourself." Chloe finished, echoing my earlier thoughts.

Max paused a moment. "Am I sane?" Her tone was curious, and it sounded like a genuine question.

"Sane as I am."

Max lifted her head and looked at Chloe with a smirk, "well that certainly doesn't make me feel any better!" Chloe stuck her tongue out at Max, and Max and I both bursted into laughter, soon joined by Chloe, before we were interrupted by a knock on the door. Joyce walked in with a hearty smile on her face.

"Hey girls, sorry to interrupt, but I just got some great news!" Joyce turned her head to look at Max, who had pushed herself up to a seated position. "Max, I just got off the phone with Principal Wells. He said the renovations were complete, and you can start back up on the 1st!" A big grin immediately appeared on Max's face, and it felt like the room had just become a thousand pounds lighter.

"That's great! Thank you so much, Joyce!" Joyce hurried over to the bed and wrapped Max in a hug.

"I'm so proud of you, Max!" I turned my head to look at Chloe. She was grinning at the scene as well, but I could see a hint of sadness in her eyes. I knew she wasn't not looking forward to not being able to spend as much time with Max, even though they'd still be living together, since Max still needed help with getting ready and everything. Eventually, Joyce let go of Max and moved back to the door. "Food'll be ready in an hour."

"Thanks, Mom!" Chloe called back, as Joyce shut the door behind her. We both turned to Max but didn't see the big smile we were expecting. Instead, we saw her scratching anxiously at the back of her neck, with her head tilted down. Chloe dropped herself onto the bed next to her, and I joined her on the other side. "What's up, Max? I thought you'd be excited."

"I-I am, it's just… I don't know what people's reactions will be, and I don't want people to pity me or treat me differently." Chloe grabbed Max's hand and cradled it in her own, before dropping onto her knees, forcing Max to look her in the eyes.  _Dang, they really are cute together._

"Shit, Max. You're a freaking badass superhero! And Rachel and I are going to make damn sure that no one sees you as anything other than that!" A panic lit up in Max's face, and Chloe quickly realized what she must have been thinking. "Not like we're going to tell anyone! We'd never say anything about—you know." Relief sunk backs into Max's face, and a shy grin made its way onto her face.

"Thanks, Chloe. I, uh, I'm gonna use the bathroom." Pushing herself into the wheelchair, Max rolled herself out of the room. Chloe and I sat in silence for a moment, when an idea slowly started to form in my mind, and a smile grew on my face.

"Hey Chloe." She lifted her head to look at me. "So Max is starting back on the first."

"So?"

"Sooo, there's going to be a Halloween party the night before, and I'm thinking, that we need to help Max make a hella rad entrance back to Blackwell. Speed Racer style." Chloe immediately returned my devious smile, as she understood my idea.

"You saying it's about time we fix Max up with those turbo boosters?"

"Exactly."


	13. Max

"I don't know, Chloe…" Chloe and Rachel kept pleading me, but I still wasn't sure how I felt about a Halloween party. It wasn't like I'd be able to do much dancing—not that I would have when I could still move my legs, though...

"Come on Super Max! It'll be fun, and it'll be good for you to see everyone again before you head back tomorrow." I realized that resistance was futile, and that Chloe would never relent on this.

"Fine," I relented. Chloe and Rachel both let out a triumphant cheer. "But not for too long, okay?" Chloe grinned back at me, before planting a quick kiss on my cheek, which made me blush.

"You got it, Max! No funny business, just in and out." Somehow I found myself strongly doubting that would be the case…

"Well what are we waiting for?!" Rachel cried, jumping up from the beanbag in the corner of Chloe's bedroom, "let's fucking party!"

I spent the drive to Blackwell silently panicking, while Rachel and Chloe were banging their heads to some punk song I didn't recognize. What would people's reactions be? I knew Kate, Dana, and Warren would be okay, but what about Victoria and her legion of followers? I sighed and tried to push the thoughts out of my head. Whatever was about to happen would happen, and my worrying about it wouldn't change anything.

Eventually, I saw the familiar red brick of Blackwell appear, and Chloe parked the truck overlapping two handicapped spaces in the parking lot.

"I guess now, I can't yell at you for using the handicap spots…" I half-joked at Chloe.

"Wait, what are you talking—ohhh. I guess I was still doing that in the other timeline, huh?" I sighed and nodded at Chloe.

"Alright, let's get this over with." Chloe immediately grinned at me, and her and Rachel swung their doors open and hopped out of the truck. I shimmied myself over to the door, so Chloe would be able to help me into my wheelchair. Then I heard a loud groan, and I turned to look at Chloe who was standing near the back of the truck frowning with her hand on her forehead.

"Shit! I think I forgot your wheelchair at home!" I actually felt a surge of relief at this, as it would save me from the party for just a bit longer. But before I had the chance to celebrate the delay for too long, Rachel appeared next to Chloe with a mischievous grin.

"Don't worry! I think I have just the thing!" This can't be good. Disappearing for a moment, I saw Rachel moving back around the truck, this time with something new. In front of her she was pushing my wheelchair. But it wasn't just my wheelchair. They had taped cardboard panels painted white to the sides and back. On the sides, there were big red circles, with the number five painted in the middle, like the Speed Racer car. On the back they had attached an actual exhaust pipe, which I assumed they must have found in the junkyard. I stood staring at it with my mouth hanging open, while they both erupted into laughter.

"Told ya we'd get you those turbo jets!" Chloe called out to me, smiling wildly, snapping out of my trance. I started to stutter, trying to find words that weren't coming, and they both laughed again. Finally, they settled down, and Chloe helped me into my new ride.

"Guys, this—this is amazing!" I finally managed to say. "But, I mean, you didn't have to, like—"

"Max," Chloe cut me off and looked at me seriously. "You nearly wrecked time to save both of our lives. I'm pretty sure making you a badass Halloween costume is the least we could do." I felt myself start to blush. "Buuuut, it's not quite complete yet!" Chloe looked over my shoulder, and I turned myself around to see Rachel marching toward us carrying a white helmet with a big red 'M' painted on it. I let her fix it onto my head, and they both stood back to admire their creation.

"And, there it is! Max, you are now officially Speed Racer! Now let's race!" Chloe grabbed my chair and immediately started running toward the gym, pushing me in front of her, while Rachel ran along next to me. We stopped when we got close to the gym, and I could hear the thumping beat of the music leaking through the walls. "On second thought, I'm gonna need the bathroom real quick. I'll be back!" Chloe quickly shared a secretive glance with Rachel before dashing off and vanished around the corner of the building.

For a few minutes, Rachel and I waited without any sign of Chloe's return. Then, I heard Rachel's phone buzz and turned to look at her. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and smiled before looking back at me.

"You know, we could probably go ahead inside. Chloe'll catch up with us in a sec." I shrugged at her, and she started to push me toward the entrance. As soon as we made it through the doors, the music cut out, and I heard confused whispers starting to spread.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Oh no. I turned my head to see Chloe standing on the makeshift stage, wearing the pirate hat I remembered so well, grinning like a maniac with a microphone in her hand. "Geeks, hipsters, punks, and stoners! I now present to you, in the flesh, for the first time since saving my ass, the one, the only, Max 'Speed Racer' Caulfield!" A spotlight suddenly blinded me, and I try to hide my face in my hands, while Rachel started to run me through the now cheering crowd toward the stage. She pushed me up onto the stage, and the crowd erupted into applause. Chloe raised a fist in the air triumphantly, before grabbing my hand with her other arm and forcing me to do the same. Eventually, I could no longer contain myself in the absurdity of the situation, and I burst into laughter.

The applause eventually died down, and Rachel and Chloe pushed me back off the stage, the three of us crying from laughter all the while. As soon as we made it back to the floor, we were ambushed by Kate and Dana, who both immediately wrapped me in a hug. I felt the pain in my chest flare as they squeezed but forced myself not to react. Both of them were dressed in all black. They had used makeup to make their skin extremely pale and had fake blood dripping from the corners of their mouths, making for the perfect vampire costumes.

"Max! We missed you so much!" Kate exclaimed as she finally released me from my hug.

"We were all so excited to see you tomorrow, but, wow! You made one hell of an entrance!" Dana chimes in.

"Yeah, well it wasn't exactly my idea," I replied, pretending to glare at Chloe and Rachel who were both giggling a few steps behind me. Before long, I saw Warren's face appear through the crowd, as he made his way toward me, dressed in a remarkably high-quality Spider-Man costume.

"Max! That was incredible!" Wrapping me in a hug as he said so. I heard Chloe awkwardly cough behind me, and when Warren released me, I shot a sly grin in her direction. This is what you get for springing this whole thing on me. Warren, Kate, Dana, and I, soon joined by Chloe and Rachel, spoke easily about what's been going on, catching me up on the happenings of Blackwell.

"Well, well, well, look who's back." I groaned as I turned myself around to face Victoria, who stood with her hip cocked and her arms crossed, glaring at me. "Guess you just couldn't resist the attention." I rolled my eyes and started to turn away from her, but Chloe's furious, growling voice stopped me in my tracks.

"I know you're sooo choked up about your boy toy going on a shooting spree, but I swear to God, if you say one more word, you will wake up tomorrow will a hell of a lot less teeth than what you started with." I placed my hand on her arm. Her face turned to me at my touch, and I felt my face pleading her not to do anything rash. Seeing my face, she let out a breath, and her fist relaxed. Victoria snickered from behind me.

"Figures, you'd need her to bring you down, Price." Victoria spat the words out at Chloe, before turning to leave. Even though, my hand on her arm was enough to stop Chloe from spitting back another retort, I could see the anger on her face. Looking around, I saw the rest of the group standing in a semicircle having been watching the encounter. I made a motion toward Rachel, and, understanding my meaning, she grabbed the back of my chair. We all said quick goodbyes, and Rachel started to push me toward the side exit, Chloe walking next to me, holding my hand. Now outside, I turned to face Chloe. Her face had softened a bit, but I could still see the lingering rage.

"Chloe, don't worry about her. She's really just words, and I don't think she even actually means them." Chloe's head snapped up to look at me, and I could see a renewed anger in her eyes.

"Are you actually defending that bitch?!" she yelled back at me, and I sighed.

"No, I'm not defending her, nor will I deny that she is indeed a massive bitch. But I did learn a lot in the other timeline. One of those things being that she's extremely insecure about a lot of things and lashes out at people to hide that fact." Chloe grunted back her disapproval, and I couldn't help but smile at her stubbornness. Leaning forward, I brushed my lips against her cheek, which caused her face to instantly light up in a smile. "Anyway," I continued, "when the hell did you assholes plan that?!" Rachel and Chloe both started to laugh, while I tried to maintain my pretend anger.

"We may not have superpowers like you, but we can still find our time!" Rachel replied, tauntingly. I smiled at that, and the three of us started to head back toward the parking lot and Chloe's truck. As the school faded into the distance, I let my head rest on Chloe's shoulder and closed my eyes.


	14. Rachel

"Yooo, Rachel! What's happening?" The perpetually high voice of Justin wafted through the air to my left, as I sat on the stairs to the girl's dorms, and I turned to get a look at him. He wore his glasses and red Bigfoots baseball cap which he never seemed to take off and was grinning madly through the scruff on his chin and upper lip. I could probably count the number of times I'd seen him without a smile on one hand. I grinned back at him.

"Hey, man!" I replied, giving him a high-five. "Just waiting for Max. It's her first day back."

"Damn, that's right. That shit was crazy. Max was always so chill, hanging in the back. She seems pretty cool though. Still, I never woulda thought she could take a bullet for someone, like—wow." I smiled to myself as he spoke. I knew Max was worried about coming back, but it seemed like she had another friend in Justin, who I knew wouldn't bat an eye at her condition. Although, I wouldn't have put it past him to try to teach Max some skateboard tricks to see if they transferred over to a wheelchair… I chuckled at the thought.

"Yeah," I replied, "that girl's full of surprises."  _And you don't know the half of it._  My phone buzzed in my pocket with a text from Chloe letting me know they were here. "Gotta go, man. Max is here."

"Rad. Say 'hi' to her for me." With that, I turned and hurried toward the parking lot. I spotted Chloe's truck and moved toward it. As I got closer, I could hear Chloe reassuring Max, both of them still sitting inside, and paused, listening.

"Hey, it's gonna be alright. You know Rachel's there, and it seems like you have a lot of other good friends in there who'll have your back.  _And_  if anything happens, you know your hella hot pirate girlfriend will be there in an instant and ready to kick some ass!" Max chuckled half-heartedly.

"Thanks, Chloe. I just don't want you or Rachel or anyone to feel like they have to protect me or something, like I'm something to be pitied. I don't know. I'll probably be better once I actually get inside." With that, I made my way over to the car only to catch them in the middle of a deep kiss. Silently, I creeped my way to the side of the truck and perched my elbows on the open window, both of them oblivious to my being there.

"Morning," I said in my most mischievous voice possible, with a coy grin on my face. Both of them immediately jumped and turned to me with their mouths hanging open, faces bright red. Snapping out of her trance, Max slapped me lightly on the arm.

"You jerk!" She yelled at me, still not meeting my eyes in embarrassment.

"C'mon, let's get you out of there. Class'll be starting pretty soon," I replied, trying my hardest to contain my laughter. She nodded, and I grabbed Max's wheelchair and helped her out of the car, while Chloe stared daggers at me.

"Bye, Chloe!" She said, and I could hear the love in her voice.  _She went through literal hell for that girl…_

"See'ya Max. Try not to wreak too much havok!" She replied, matching the love in Max's tone.

"Don't worry. I'll try to avoid taking any more bullets this time around." Max said, with a grin on her face. I saw Chloe gulp, and I knew she still felt guilty about it. She quickly hid her guilt behind a smile, and she sent me one last dirty look before driving off. Max turned her chair to face me.

"Ya know, I still think you shoulda brought your Speed Racer chair."

"Oh. shut it," she replied quickly. I laughed and went to start pushing her toward the school, but she swatted my hands away. "Sorry, I just—I'd rather push myself, I think. I don't want people to think I'm totally helpless." Remembering her conversation with Chloe in the car, I nodded, and we walked (or rolled) side by side toward the entrance. It was getting close to class time, so the courtyard was almost entirely empty. We made our way up the newly installed wheelchair ramp, and I saw Max take a deep breath before pushing through the doors to the school.

Inside was a whole other story. Almost immediately, every face turned to Max and whispers started to break out. I saw Max hang her head to stare into her lap, and I silently cursed all the people staring. I noticed Principal Wells making his way toward us, and Max raised her head to look at him as he approached.

"Maxine, it's wonderful to see you back," he said in his deep, gravelly voice. "I hope you're finding our renovations suitable." Max nodded in response, not meeting his eyes. "Now, if you don't mind, there's something I'd greatly like for you to see." I wasn't sure what he was talking about and Max didn't seem to know either, but we followed him as he led us on. Soon, I realized where we were headed and became nervous; I wasn't sure how Max would react when she saw the bathroom again. I saw her tense a bit, but she kept moving, and I breathed a sigh of relief that she didn't fall back into a flashback or something.

We stopped outside the bathroom, and Principal Wells gestured to something on the wall. "Installed this morning." Moving closer I could see it was a plaque, and I heard Max gasp. When I started to read it though, I realized that Max wasn't gasping at the fact that there was a plaque in her honor, but at what it read.  _Maxine Caulfield_  was spelled out in big gold letters and below it  _A True Everyday Hero_. I remembered Max telling Chloe and I about Jefferson's Everyday Heroes contest during her week (weeks?) of torture. Looking at her, I saw her face was deathly pale, and I knew I had to cover for her.

"Wow, that's amazing! You're really leaving your mark, eh, Max?" I said in the most optimistic voice I could manage. Fortunately, it was enough to bring Max out of her stupor. She shook her head and turned to Wells with a forced smile on her face.

"Yeah, it—it's wonderful. Thank you." Her voice was shaky, but Wells didn't seem to notice. He smiled and nodded back at her.

"I'm glad you think so," he said, before turning and walking away. Max looked at me speechless, and I could see the paleness had returned to her face. We both stood still for a moment. I tried to think of something to say, but my brain wouldn't cooperate. It was Max who broke the silence.

"L-let's just go to class. I'd rather not think about it right now." Snapping out of the moment, I nodded back at her, and we started to move toward the science classroom where Max had her first class. The halls had cleared somewhat, but those who remained still whispered and pointed at Max. Ms. Grant's familiar figure was standing outside her classroom, and she immediately spotted us.

"Now there's the girl of the hour! It's great to see you back in action, Max." Her voice always felt so calming, and her smile was bright and genuine. Max smiled back at her, and I was glad to see that it didn't appear forced.

"Thanks, Ms. Grant. I'm happy to be back as well." I knew Max was a big fan of Ms. Grant, even if science wasn't her best subject, so I was glad she would have her first period.

"Now, I know you've missed a good few classes, so if you ever want to meet outside of class to catch up, you let me know."

"Thank you. Warren's been keeping me updated on what you've been teaching, so hopefully I won't be too lost." I remembered the jealousy in Chloe's eyes, when she saw Max talking to Warren in the hospital, and I smiled to myself.  _Oh, how the tables have turned._  Max and Ms. Grant continued to chat, and I realized I still needed to get to my class.

"Hey, I should get going. I'll see ya soon Max." She smiled back at me and nodded.

"And I'll be seeing you third period. Yes, Rachel?" Ms. Grant said, staring at me. After seeing how nice she was to Max, I suddenly felt guilty for all the classes I'd ditched to spend time with Chloe.

"Yes, ma'am," I replied before turning and making my way down the hall. When I reached the computer lab, I immediately grabbed my phone and started writing a text to Chloe.

**Rachel**

_Some weird shit going down here…_

Almost instantly, Chloe texted back.

**Chloe**

_Is Max okay? Do I need to come?_

I giggled at Chloe's obvious worry before responding.

**Rachel**

_Lol, your love pirate is fine. But get this: Wells had a plaque installed for Max outside the bathroom_

**Chloe**

_Well that seems like a cool thing?_

**Rachel**

_Yeah, the weird part is what it says: "A True Everyday Hero"_

**Chloe**

_Shit, like that contest Max was talking about from the other timeline?_

**Rachel**

_Exactly._

**Chloe**

_But that's just, like, a coincidence, right?_

**Rachel**

_I don't know. Max seemed pretty freaked by it_

_Gtg, class starting_

I sighed as I listened to Mr. O'Brien drag on about some programming language I had never heard of. I only signed up for the class because my dad had kept bugging me about it, saying that coding was an essential skill in today's world, and I had regretted it ever since. My thoughts turned back to Max. The Everyday Heroes contest had never existed in this timeline, so the fact that those exact words would appear on Max's plaque did feel disconcerting.

Eventually, it was third period, and I knew I had to make true on my promise to Ms. Grant. I made my way down the hall and heard the mellow sound of an acoustic guitar leaking through the door of Mr. Morali's music classroom. He had come here from France sometime last year to teach music, and it seemed like people really liked him. Apparently, Max was obsessed with his band (Syd Matters, I think it was called) that he had put on hold to come teach but was too nervous to speak to him, and she wasn't confident enough in her guitar skills to take a class with him.

I smiled at the thought and made my way to the science classroom. As soon as my hand was about to touch the handle, though, I heard another door crash open behind me, and I turned to see Kate, her hair in a tight bun as always, silver cross around her neck, but with a panicked expression on her face. Her eyes turned wide when she spotted me. She grabbed me by the arm and started pulling me toward the photography classroom.

"Rachel! It's Max! She's panicking or something! I didn't know what to do!" I cursed under my breath, as I realized that this would've been her first time in that room since that fucker was teaching. I sprinted into the room and saw a group of students huddled toward the back of the classroom. Immediately, I shoved through them and saw Max on the floor, her limp legs splayed out in awkward directions, her wheelchair tipped over beside her, her arms pulled up to cover her face, whimpering in the corner. For a moment, I froze in sadness and anger. Pulling myself out of the moment, I dashed to her side and wrapped myself around her. She thrashed against me, but I resisted and lifted her into my arms.

"Kate!" I yelled, my eyes searching the confused faces around the room before spotting her, her eyes wet with tears from watching the scene in front of her. "Grab her wheelchair. We need to get her to the nurse, now." She looked at me, her eyes still full with fear, and nodded, before moving forward to get her chair. Without waiting, I dashed out of the room, Max crying in my arms and made my way to the nurse.

Entirely ignoring the confused face of the nurse, I spotted a bed in the back corner of the room and laid Max gently onto it, drawing the curtain around us for privacy. I grabbed my phone out of my pocket and started a text, while Kate came in behind me with the wheelchair.

**Rachel**

_Chloe, get here now. Max had another flashback. In the nurse_

Instantly, I received her text back.

**Chloe**

_Omw_

Turning back to Max, I placed my hand on her shoulder, and she trembled at my touch. I felt the tears, which I had held back in the heat of the moment, start to come forth as I stared at the broken girl in front of me.  _How could a person be so evil as to hurt a girl this pure?_  Then I remembered the few things that Max had been able to tell us about Jefferson and realized that her purity or 'innocence' as he would say was exactly why he targeted her. Rage flared inside me, and I fought to keep it at bay. I kept holding her as she cried, sometimes murmuring things I couldn't understand. Turning my head, I saw Kate at the foot of the bed, her face pale.

Suddenly, her eyes snapped open, and at the same moment, I heard the door of the nurse crash open. Her eyes focused on me and turned wide.

"Rachel! Rachel you were dead! You were dead! We found you, but it was too late!" Her head jerked to the side, and I noticed Chloe now standing next to Kate, a hand over her mouth. "Chloe, you made me kill you! You kept dying and dying, and I tried so hard! I tried so hard, but you made… you made me..." Her words dissolved into sobs, and Chloe rushed forward, both of us smothering her in hugs, as the tears flowed out of all three of us. Slowly, the sobbing became less intense and eventually turned into just a small whimper. Chloe and I released our grip, and Max sat with her head hung. Kate looked on with a confused and frightened look on her face, and I knew that none of this was making any sense to her, having been in her shoes just a few days prior.

Sighing, I figured Max would be alright with Chloe. Grabbing Kate's arm, I led her to the other side of the room, so Max and Chloe could have their privacy and I could maybe relieve a bit of Kate's confusion.

"Kate, Max has had some things happen in her past," I started, placing my hand on her shoulder, "well… some really bad things, and she gets nightmares and flashbacks from time to time." I sighed. I knew this didn't explain Max crying about Chloe and I dying. It felt awful, lying to Kate, but she seemed not to question what I told her. Sitting in one of the chairs by the door, she rested her head in her palms.

"God, poor Max. I can't believe someone would actually want to hurt her! The girl wouldn't hurt a fly! I-It's just—God, when she started panicking, I j-just froze. She sounded so afraid! I didn't know what to do!" Placing my arm around her, I felt her pain. Max didn't deserve any of this.

"It's okay, Kate. You did exactly the right thing, coming to get me. And Max'll be okay as well. She might not always look it, but that girl is tough." Remembering the stories she'd told since waking up from her coma, I continued, "Tougher, I think, than any of us can understand."

Lifting her head, Kate looked at me. "I hope you're right. I should probably get back to class," she said with a sigh. Please, make sure Max knows that I'm here for her and that I'll be praying for her." With a smile, I nodded back at her. Even with as much shit as I'd given the devout over the years, it was easy to admire Kate's faith.

"I'm sure she already knows, but I'll be sure to remind her." Giving me a sad smile, she turned and made her way out through the door. I waited. Max seemed to have calm down, and I could hear Chloe offering her little reassurances. I had never seen Chloe as emotionally invested in a person as she was with Max, and it made me happy. She had it rough over the years after William died and Max left, and I still felt guilt, knowing that I didn't always make it any easier, with all of our fights while we were still together. Chloe deserved Max, and it was obvious how much max loved her, considering she nearly destroyed time itself to save her. Chloe deserved to finally have someone love her the way she needed, the way I was never able to.

Hearing the familiar rustle of Max settling into her wheelchair, I looked up to see Chloe helping her into it and planting a small kiss on her temple. Trying to put on a strong face after being shattered by seeing Max's pain laid so bare, I made my way over to them.

"Do you think you can go back to class or would you rather stay home for the day?" I felt proud at Chloe for this. I knew she wanted—needed to stay near Max, to make sure she was okay, for her own sanity, but she still gave her the choice.

"C-can I come with you? I d-don't really w-want to see everyone." I frowned at this. I understood Max's decision, but it also worried me. I remembered her talking about how she withdrew entirely from the world during those few months back in Seattle after Chloe's funeral, and I didn't want to see her return to that state. I also didn't want to push Max, so I decided to let it go, settling on texting Chloe later to tell her about my worries.

Chloe nodded, a smile on her face, "how could I say no to a girl as cute as you wanting to spend time with me?" A weak giggle escaped from Max, before she turned to face me.

"T-thank you, Rachel."

"Anytime, Max. You know I'm always here for you, Kate as well. Now get going and try not to get too crazy with this one!" I said, gesturing toward Chloe. Max frowned slightly but didn't say anything. With that, Chloe said goodbye and they left the nurse.

After they left, I realized what I had been doing. I was speaking to Max like a child, like I was her mom or something, after she had reminded Chloe and I time and time again how she didn't want to be pitied. Swearing under my breath, I made my way back to class.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing this chapter, I realized that a lot of the chapters I’m writing for Rachel are even longer than those for Chloe and even Max in some cases. I’m thinking it might be because for a lot of this story, Rachel has been more of an observer of Max and Chloe’s interactions, and I find it easier to write from that perspective. Who knows? And maybe that’ll change with later chapters.
> 
> Also, I wanted to comment on not writing any of Max’s nightmares or flashbacks from her perspective, like I’ve seen a lot of other fics that deal with Max having PTSD do. Mostly, it’s because I have some trauma in my own past, and I’m scared to confront the parallels I’d find between Max’s and my own. But, again, who knows? Maybe writing this story will help me move past that fear.
> 
> Thanks again for reading, and I hope you enjoy!


	15. Chloe

I sat on the bed with my head in my hands, waiting for Max to finish in the bathroom. Rachel had gone to Wells after I was able to get Max to the car and back home to explain that Max had a panic attack and was taking the day off. He had called the home phone, and, after listening in on his conversation with Mom, it seemed like he was understanding. I sighed. Anyone other than Rachel and I would assume that Max's panic attacks, flashbacks—whatever they were—were about her being shot, but we both, unfortunately, knew that Max had seen much, much worse.

Wheeling herself into the bedroom, Max refused to meet my eyes. She hadn't said a word since we left the nurse. I watched as she struggled out of her chair, knowing she would get mad if I tried to help, and laid herself on the bed, rolling onto her side, facing away from me. I was never good with these kinds of emotionally tense situations. In the past, my reaction had always been to get angry and blame whatever the problem was on someone else, but I couldn't do that with Max. In fact, I didn't want to do it with anyone, and I never did. After Dad died, lashing out was just so much easier than actually dealing with my emotions, and it stuck.

"Max?" She remained silent. "Max, please, I need you to talk to me." Hesitantly, I reached out a hand and placed it on her shoulder. At my touch, she immediately twirled around. Her eyes were burning red with tears.

"The first day, Chloe! My first day back, and I panic! Everyone saw it, and now they all think I'm a freak! And the worst part is that they're all right!" My own tears began to form as I listened to Max tear herself apart.

"Max, you're not a freak! You're just—"

"I can control time, Chloe! What else would you call me?"

"Gee, I don't know, how about a fucking hero? Max, I'd be dead without you and so would Rachel! I'm actually pretty happy that I'm alive at the moment. Are you?" I knew my words were harsh, but I also knew that they would get through to Max. Her expression instantly softened, and the frustration in her eyes turned to sadness. Throwing herself into my arms, her tears started flow heavier and faster, and I held her as tight as I could without hurting her.

"No! Chloe, I didn't mean it like that! I'm sorry, please—"

"I know you didn't, Max, but I'm also not going to let you say things like that about yourself, alright?" She nodded into my shoulder as she cried, and I closed my eyes. My mind was still reeling, trying to process everything that Max had told us, even though it had already been a few days. She had been through so much, and, even now that she had made it through all the shitty stuff, the pain kept following her. Gradually, she eased out of the embrace and looked up at me. She had stopped crying, but her eyes were still bright red and wet.

"I love you, Chloe." Leaning forward, I pushed her bangs aside and planted a kiss on her forehead.

"I love you too, Max." A small, hesitant smile finally made its way back onto Max's lips, and the room became instantly brighter. "Now," I said, my voice playfully serious, "we have the rest of the day to ourselves, and we're doing something fun."

"You're something fun…" My mouth dropped open, processing what Max had just said. A smirk played at the corner of her lips.

"Holy shit! Max, that was amazing! Here I was thinking I was gonna have to be the only one making all the offhand, flirty quips!" Max immediately started laughing, quickly joined by me. Our laughter slowly dying down, we both laid there on the bed, content for the moment.

"Could we watch a movie or something? I don't think I have the energy to do much more than that right now."

"Hell yeah, Max. I've been thinking it's about time we watch  _Blade Runner_  together again." Max smiled back at me.

"You never could get enough of that movie, could you?"

"Never."

After helping Max downstairs and onto the couch in the living room, I made us some microwave popcorn and set up the movie. As the opening scenes started to play, Max rested her head against my chest and curled her body up against mine. Warmth instantly spread through me at her touch, and I felt… happy. Genuinely, truly, honestly happy, a feeling I hadn't felt for years, not even during the times I was with Rachel. She was filling a Max-shaped hole in me that had existed since the day she left for Seattle. I kissed the top of her head, and Max let out a soft hum and shimmied her upper half a bit in an effort to get closer to me. I leaned my head back, unable to contain the goofy smile on my face and wished that this moment could last forever. With Max's rewind powers she probably could make it last forever, at least for herself, though I knew she would never do it, and so I was left to suck in every possible detail I could and store them in the dearest and safest parts of my mind.

Max started to snore within the first twenty minutes of the movie, and I tried to stifle my giggles in an effort to not wake her. She deserved her rest. Even on the nights she didn't have nightmares, she wouldn't sleep long, and it never seemed to be particularly restful sleep. The movie played and ended, and I lifted Max's still-sleeping body into my arms and carried her up the stairs. I was certainly getting my workouts in from carrying Max, and I could already feel my arms becoming stronger. I laid Max down on the bed, pulling the sheets up to her shoulders, then made my way to the window and lit a joint.

My thoughts inevitably turned back to the girl on the bed behind me. That beautiful girl was in pain all the time. Even during the good moments, I could see the fear behind her eyes, like I would suddenly disappear if I left her line of sight. I knew I would always be at her side and would always support her, but what if that wasn't enough? She had been through a living nightmare like no one in this world had ever experienced before, and no one goes through something like that without lasting effects. It took all my will not to look away during her episodes and nightmares. It hurt too much to see her in so much pain, filled with so much fear. I wasn't a therapist, and I had no clue what I was supposed to be doing.

"Shit." I muttered, putting out the joint and slinking down the wall until I was sitting on the floor. After a while, I heard the sheets rustle and made my way over to sit on the bed while Max let out a huge yawn, stretching her arms into the air.

"God, you're adorable." Her face immediately turned bright red.

"Oh shush." I smiled back at her, but it soon faltered.

"Hey, Max?"

"Hmm."

"I've been thinking, and, uh, I think—I think maybe you should talk to someone." Max looked up at me, and I hesitantly met her gaze.

"Like a therapist?"

"Yeah, like a therapist." At this, Max burst into laughter, and I stared back at her confused.

"Sure, and what am I supposed to tell them? 'So I can sorta control time, and I've lived through dozens and dozens of timelines, watching the people I care about get killed over and over. Also, I was kidnapped and raped by a person who's never even laid eyes on me in this timeline.' Chloe, I'm pretty sure that constitutes a one-way ticket to the loony bin." My body shivered and ached. I'd never heard her describe what happened so frankly or directly.

"Jesus, Max, no, I mean—obviously you couldn't tell them everything, but you've been through hell, and I'm scared I can't help you through this on my own. No—I know I can't help you through this on my own, as much as I'd like to."

"Chloe, you're all I care about. I went through all of it for you, and I would do it again and again and again if I needed to. You're all I need."

"If you care about me, then you'll do this." I snapped at her, and we both went silent. "Max, I can't bear to see you in so much pain, and I need you to do this." Max stared back at me, and I couldn't read her expression. Eventually, she let out a sigh.

"Fine," she muttered, turning her head down.

"Thank you. I know it's shit. Everything you've been through is bullshit, but I think this is important." Max managed a small smile and nodded back at me. It felt like an immense burden had been lifted off my shoulders, and I let myself fall back onto the bed.

The next morning, Max refused to go to school. I couldn't blame her, but it still worried me. I remembered what she had told us about the days when she had almost given up, resigning herself to the fact that there was no way to save me, how she pulled into herself, never spoke to anyone, stayed in her room twenty-four hours a day, drowning in her own tears and guilt. I wasn't about to let her fall back into that state. She was in the bathroom when my phone buzzed.

**Rachel**

_Yo, been talking to Warren and we're trying to set up a trip to the drive-in on Friday with a bunch of people for Max_

_Think she needs to be reminded how many people care about her_

**Chloe**

_That's hella perfect! Who's all in?_

**Rachel**

_So far we got me and Warren obviously, Kate, Dana, and Justin_

**Chloe**

_Justin?_

**Rachel**

_Yeah, I know Max doesn't really know him, but I was talkin to him yesterday, and he seemed to think she was pretty cool_

**Chloe**

_Sweet, what's the movie?_

**Rachel**

_Ur not gonna believe this… it's too perfect…_

_BACK TO THE FUTURE_

**Chloe**

_Holy SHIT that's amazing! Fuck, I can already see how cute and awkward she's gonna get_

**Rachel**

_Well you're gonna have to contain your lady boner, since I'll be in the car with you_

_Although… I could step out for a bit if you two need to… take care of business?_

**Chloe**

_Fuck off_

I couldn't contain my smile as Max came out of the bathroom.

"Uh oh. I know that smile can't mean anything good…"

"Guess where we're going on Friday?"

"Where?"

"Rachel and Warren got a bunch of your friends together for the drive-in!"

"Oh! That… actually sounds really nice." I could hear the relief in her voice, and I anxiously braced myself for her reaction to the next part.

"And guess what movie it is?"

"Oh no."

"BACK TO THE FUTURE." Max instantly let out an enormous groan, throwing her head back, and I started rolling in laughter.

"I knew there had to be a catch," she muttered.

"Hey, now you can tell us how accurate it is!" I replied, still failing to contain my giggles. Max finally allowed me a slight grin.

"Fine, but mark my words, I'll get you back for this…"


	16. Max

The rest of the week went surprisingly well. I stayed home the next day, but Chloe forced me to go back to Blackwell on Wednesday. I could still hear the whispers around me and caught a few stares, but it was certainly better than Monday. I almost always had Rachel, Kate, or Warren by my side which helped as well. I still couldn't bring myself to go back to photography again, so I skipped that period. Rachel properly introduced me to Justin, one of the Blackwell skater dudes, who was actually really nice. I had spoken to him a few times before, but just in passing. He was also free when I had photography, so I ended up spending some time with him.

As I waited for the bell signalling the end of last period science, I actually felt excited for the movie. The bell rang, and Warren and I walked out together to find Rachel, Dana, Kate, and Justin who were all sitting around a table in the courtyard. Justin was the first to spot me.

"Yo, Max! You ready to travel back in time tonight?!" My face immediately turned bright red, and I saw Rachel desperately trying to contain her laughter.

"Honestly, time travel freaks me out a bit, but yeah, I'm excited." I muttered back in as level a tone as I could manage.

"It is pretty crazy, how one small difference can end up totalling changing everything," Warren chimed in, and I desperately wished for the topic to change.

"Anyway, so how were all your days?" I quickly interjected, after throwing a glare toward Rachel. She shrugged back at me with a grin.

"I've been drawing a lot, well, even more so than usual," Kate replied. "I've been thinking about trying to write a children's book about bullying."

"Kate, that's awesome!" I tried to maintain the optimism in my voice, while trying to push the image of Kate in the hospital after I had gotten her down from the roof out of my mind. "I've always loved your illustrations. They'd be perfect for a children's book." I could feel the warmth emanating from Kate when she smiled back at me.

"Thanks, Max. You know, I was thinking about having some photos in it as well. Would you want to help me out with it?" I felt my smile vanish, knowing what the click and flash of the camera would remind me of. Rachel immediately noticed and jumped in to save me.

"Max, I know you've never thought too highly of your own art, but you're seriously talented. And, I think it might be good for you." I looked up at Rachel, only she and I knowing the actual meaning of those words. She gave me an encouraging smile.

"Y-yeah, maybe. That—that might be fun." Kate smiled back at me. Her goodness and kindness was overwhelming at times.

"I think Dana over here might have some news as well," Justin said suggestively, nudging her with his elbow. Dana blushed and turned to me.

"I might have started to see Trevor yesterday." She said, redness creeping up her face.

"Dana, that's great! I'm so happy for you! He seems like a really nice guy!" She smiled back at me. Justin was smiling as well, which made me happy, knowing that he and Trevor were good friends. It seemed like they were almost always together, usually skating, when not in class.

"Yeah, he might be an idiot at times, but the dude's my best friend and a damn good one at that." It was cute how close they were. It almost reminded me of Chloe and I when we were younger. We all turned to look, as we heard the loud screech of tires that signified Chloe's arrival. Her truck flew around the corner before coming to an abrupt stop, double-parked over two handicapped spaces.

"Looks like Chloe still hasn't grown out of using the handicapped spots," Dana said with a sigh. I felt my face turn red and sunk back into my chair, trying to make myself as small as possible.

"Well, she might have an excuse now," I muttered back in a small voice. Dana quickly turned to me with a look of horror.

"Oh God, Max, I wasn't thinking. I'm sorry, I—" I cut her off with a wave of my hand.

"It's chill, Dana. Sometimes, I even forget about it myself and wonder for a moment why I'm sitting down, before I remember." Dana sent an apologetic grin my way, and I returned it. We all turned to see a head of blue hair marching its way toward the table.

"Alright, folks, watches off! Get ready to throw them on my count!" Chloe made her way to the table, while the rest of us looked at her confusedly. "Get it? No? Like, we're throwing watches, so we're making time travel? Ah, forget it." She plonked herself down on the bench next to me, while we all slowly figured out the joke. She planted a quick kiss on my head before greeting the rest of the table.

"Sweet, so in terms of rides, Chloe, if you can get Max and Rachel, the rest of us can pile into my car."

"You got it, Warren. With that settled, we got about an hour drive ahead of us. Let's go kick time's ass! Eh, Max?" Chloe said, nudging me with her shoulder. I glared back at her, and her grin grew wider.

"Sounds like a plan! We'll follow behind you and meet you guys there?"

"Hell yeah," Chloe replied, before grabbing the back of my wheelchair and sprinting back to her car, with Rachel following close behind us. The car ride was spent with the three of us talking and laughing, while punk music played through the speakers and Chloe and Amber occasionally threw obscene hand gestures out the window toward the rest of the group in the car behind us. We made one pit-stop about forty minutes in to grab some burgers to go, before heading out again.

We made it to the drive-in around five, an hour before the movie was supposed to start, and found a spot in the third row of cars. Warren pulled into the spot next to us about a minute later. Kate and Dana piled out of the back seat, while the ever-smiling Justin stepped out of shotgun. The next hour seemed to pass much too quickly. Chloe and Rachel were sitting on the hood of Chloe's truck, leaning against the windshield, while we all sat and chatted and laughed, chewing on our burgers. Unlike how I felt at school, no one stared at me or shot pitying glances in my direction. Here, I felt like a person, not some article in a museum to be gawked at.

The lights set up around the drive-in started to dim, and the talking around the yard turned quiet. I swivelled my chair around, with the back of it against Chloe's bumper, when suddenly hands gripped under my armpits and started lifting me up. I started squealing with laughter, as Chloe dragged me up onto the hood of her truck, in between her and Rachel. The movie started to play, and I leaned my head against my blue-haired girlfriend's shoulder, totally and utterly content. The movie went on, and I tried to avoid making comparisons to my own experiences with time travel.

"Do you really think you'd just start fading out of existence like that if you made it so your parents didn't get together?" I considered Rachel's question, while we watched Marty's hand slowly fading, before snapping back into existence at his parents kiss.

"I think it would actually be much quicker, and there'd be no coming back from it. Even if they did still end up together, if I interfered in even the tiniest way, the timing of everything in their relationship would be thrown off, even if very slightly. So even if they had a kid, it wouldn't have my exact DNA, meaning I would never exist regardless. Maybe I would just zap away into oblivion the moment I changed anything." I thought aloud, shrugging back at her.

"I vote we don't experiment to find out," Chloe chimed in.

"I'm with you there," I sighed back at her. Trying to think about time travel in a rational way was a total mindfuck, let alone trying to do it while you're actually do it. I got shivers, when the storm came on screen over the clocktower, while Marty and Doc were trying to get him  _back to the future_. Chloe immediately sensed this and threw her arm around me, knowing what it must remind me of.

As the credits rolled, I looked around at the group of friends that surrounded me. I watched as they all started to chat about the movie and smiled.  _I finally have a normal life. Going to see a movie with friends. A normal life, not revolving around freak time powers and apocalyptic storms chasing me around every corner_. After another while, with all of us laughing and joking, we said goodbye, and Chloe helped me back into the truck, folding up my wheelchair and throwing it in the back.

The ride back was quieter. I convinced Chloe and Rachel that it was too late for loud punk music, and they reluctantly allowed me to play my music. The soft, acoustic sounds of Syd Matters filled the truck, and Rachel gave me more grief about still not working up the courage to talk to the new music teacher at Blackwell who fronted the band.

I sighed and looked past Chloe, to the trees and street lamps flying by us. Ahead of us, there was a young boy walking his dog down the sidewalk across the street, and I smiled at the pair. It was such an innocent scene. As we got closer, the dog suddenly wrenched loose from the boy's grip and dashed across the street. Panic surged through me, as I saw the boy sprint after the dog, right into the path of a black van coming from the opposite direction. Instinctively, I threw my right hand forward to freeze time, and—

_CRASH_

I shook my head, my vision slowly coming back to me, trying to process what had just happened. Pain surged through my body all over. My hand was still raised, and time had frozen around me, so why was I lying on the asphalt? Turning my head, I saw Chloe's truck, with the windshield shattered behind me. I slowly realized that my momentum must have carried over when I froze time, and I shot through the windshield. Pain pounded in my head from sustaining the time freeze in addition to the fact that I just launched through a fucking windshield. Realizing that I didn't have much time, I turned and spotted the boy. The black van maybe ten feet away from him.

I tried to stand and cursed, remembering my dead-weight legs. I wouldn't be able to drag both the boy and myself out of the way of the van. I needed another way. I started crawling my way back toward Chloe's truck, my head threatening to combust. Realizing that I would need both my hands for this, I focused all of my willpower on the time freeze, before slowly lowering my hand. Time stayed still, and I breathed a sigh of relief, soon cut short by another spark of pain in my head.

Grabbing onto the side of the truck bed, I hoisted myself up, cursing my non-existent upper body strength, before throwing my right arm over the side and dragging out the wheelchair. With the chair in tow, I started my slow crawl toward the boy. Finally reaching him, I gasped in pain when my head throbbed, and I knew I only had a few precious seconds left. Shoving his frozen body into the wheelchair, I shoved against it, and it rolled away just as time unfroze. Immediately, I thrusted my body to the side with all the effort I could muster, and felt the hard gust of wind as the truck flew by me, mere inches to my side.

Tires squealed from somewhere around me. The whole world was spinning, and I couldn't determine the direction it came from. Pain overtook my body, and I felt something warm and wet pool underneath me. The world faded to black, as the sound of muffled voices grew louder.


	17. Rachel

_CRASH_

"What the fuck!?" My eyes sprung open at the sound, and Chloe slammed on the breaks. The tires squealing as we came to a stop. I desperately tried to process the fact that the windshield had spontaneously shattered.

"MAX!" I heard Chloe's panicked scream and turned to my side, only to see that Max had vanished. Chloe and I immediately threw our doors open and shot out of the car. "NO!" I turned to see Chloe sprinting toward a mass in the middle of the road, some yards behind us. I ran after her, before my body froze, and I threw a hand to my mouth. Max was laying in the middle of the road, with blood pooled around her. To her side, there was a young boy crying in her wheelchair.

I ran to his side. "What the hell happened here?!" I shouted at him, not caring at the moment how scared he must feel. He looked up at me, tears in his eyes.

"S-she saved m-me." He spoke in a quiet voice, barely loud enough to hear. "My d-dog got l-loose, and I chased it across the s-street. The v-van was going to h-hit me, b-but it was like magic. S-she just appeared and p-pushed me, and I—I was in t-the chair." Realizing the situation, I calmed my voice.

"Okay, it's going to be okay. Just, go get your dog and get home, alright? Be safe." The boy nodded frantically at me, before standing and running off to his dog, which seemed to be watching the whole scene from the other side of the road. Remembering Max, I dashed toward her, seeing Chloe sobbing over her limp body.

"MAX! DAMMIT MAX! PLEASE! DON'T LEAVE ME! GOD PLEASE NO, MAX! WAKE UP! FUCKING WAKE UP, MAX!" I froze at Chloe's bloodcurdling screams. "RACHEL, CALL A FUCKING AMBULANCE!" Her words snapping me back to life, I immediately dug out my phone, dialing 911. Hurriedly, my voice shaking, I relayed to them that there was an accident needing immediate medical attention and where we were.

I threw myself on the ground next to Chloe, and instinctively tore off my jacket and placed it over Max's wounds. It immediately turned red, and there was only so much it could do, with the cuts being all over her body. I tried to keep pressure on the wounds while consoling the uncontrollably sobbing Chloe. "Chloe, i-it's gonna be okay. She's gonna be fine, once we get her to the hospital. I-I promise." I tried to keep my voice steady, but I felt no confidence in my words. Max was looking more and more like roadkill every second, turning paler and paler. I noticed the streak of blood trailing down her face from her nose and shivered, remembering her describing the side effects of time manipulation and realizing what she must have done.

The sound of sirens grew near, as Chloe cried into my shoulder over Max's limp and bloody body. Chloe thrashed as the EMTs loaded her onto a stretcher and into the ambulance, desperately fighting to stay with her, but they shoved her back and told her to follow them to the hospital.

Realizing that Chloe was in no state to drive, I dragged her to the truck and threw her into the passenger seat. Grabbing the wheel, I floored it and chased after the screaming ambulance. With the windshield gone, the wind buffeted against our faces, and I had to squint and strain to keep my eyes open. A shard of glass from the broken windshield had dug its way into my palm as I got into the car. I could feel the scarlet drop of blood dripping down to my wrist, but I paid it no attention. All that mattered now was Max.

I tailed the ambulance like my life depended on it, with Chloe wailing in the seat next to me.

"C-Chloe, she's gonna be okay. Max is gonna be okay. She's strong."

"M-Max…" Chloe whimpered next to me. Gritting my teeth, we shot through another red light and nearly skidded into the hospital parking lot. I was quickly reminded of the last time I was here, when I came to visit Chloe after Max was shot. I shook my head to get the image out of my mind and realized that Chloe was already out of the car and sprinting toward the entrance. Immediately, I shot out of the truck, not even bothering to lock it, and dashed after her. Inside, I looked around wildly until I spotted a tuft of blue hair arguing with a nurse near the front desk. When I got close to her, she seemed to get the information she needed and sprinted off, with me running after her.

I chased her up the stairs and down a hall where a group of nurses and doctors were speaking worriedly outside a room in the ICU.

"Where is she?! I have to see her!" Chloe thrashed against the hold of a doctor who grabbed her to prevent her from charging into the room where Max was being kept.

"Ma'am, I need you to calm down, please. She's lost a lot of blood, but she'll recover." A wave of relief shot through my body, and Chloe's thrashing seemed to calm as well. "I assure you, we're doing everything we can to assure her safety, but we can't allow visitors in the room at this time. Please, follow me into the waiting area, and I promise to find you as soon as we have an update on her condition." Chloe reluctantly calmed, and we followed the doctor to a room across the hall. Chloe instantly collapsed into one of the chairs, and I threw my arm around her.

"Hey, you heard what he said. She's gonna be alright. I told you, she's a tough one. It's gonna be okay." I managed to keep my voice calm and level. In my head, I was panicking as well, but I knew I had to be a pillar for Chloe, who was surely feeling ten times worse. Her crying slowly subsided, and we sat for a moment in silence.

"I k-know. It's j-just—" Her head snapped to look at me, her eyes red and misty. "Why does she always have to play the goddamn hero? She puts herself through so much, and what if one of these days her stupid fucking rewind isn't enough? I can't lose her Rachel. I can't. I love her so much. Even through all those years after she left and I bitched to you over and over again about how I hated her, I missed her so much."

"I know, Chloe. Even when you were fuming, it was obvious how much you cared. For now, let's just try to be grateful that she'll be alright." Chloe shakily nodded her head. "We should probably call Joyce to let her know what happened."

"Can you do it? I don't think I can talk much more now."

"Of course." I took out my phone and dialed Joyce's number. As it rang, I realized that she was probably asleep already. I heard the voicemail message start to play followed by a beep. "Hey Joyce, this is Rachel." I paused for a moment, wondering what to tell her, knowing that I couldn't go around saying that Max used her magical time powers to save the day yet again. "We were in a bit of an accident, and Max got hurt. She's gonna be alright, but Chloe and I are at the hospital now. I'm guessing we'll probably be spending the night here. If you wanted to visit in the morning, I'm sure Max and Chloe would both appreciate it. Thanks, Joyce." I sighed as I hung up the phone and leaned back in my chair.

Chloe and I sat in silence and waited. At some point, whether it was a half-hour, an hour, or two, I wasn't sure, the door to the waiting room opened, and the doctor who spoke to us earlier walked in.

"First and foremost, I want to reassure you that Maxine is stable and safe. You'll be allowed to see her after I fill you in on her condition, though she is still asleep. She sustained cuts all over her body from the broken windshield, this being what caused her blood loss. Fortunately, none of those cuts seem to be deep enough to do any lasting damage, aside from a few scars. Secondly, she's cracked two of her ribs. They were not fully broken, and there are no jagged edges that could be a threat to her internal organs. These too, will heal with time, though she'll need to avoid any type of strenuous activity over the next six weeks in addition to not putting any significant pressure on her chest. Strangely enough, her paralysis may have actually been beneficial to her in this case. The lack of tension in her legs may have prevented her from sustaining any additional damage to her lower half. Finally, she has a fairly severe concussion. As with the rest, she will recover well, though I'd suggest she stays home from school and rests for at least the next two weeks. I'll also prescribe her with some medication to help with the pain.

"I know it sounds like a lot, but before long she'll be as healthy as she ever was. Now, I know you're both anxious to see her, and if you follow me, I can bring you to her. Just remember not to wake her. She needs her rest." With that, Chloe and I followed him out of the room, both of us shivering from his monologue of Max's injuries, even with the comfort of knowing she'll be okay.

Entering her room, I saw Max lying on the white bed. She was littered with small bandages that covered the cuts all over her body, and she had an IV coming out of her wrist. Chloe immediately rushed to her side and cradled one of her small hands in her own, using her other to pet some of Max's hair out of her face.

"Dammit, Max, you can't keep scaring us like that." I moved to the other side of the bed and held Max's other hand, smiling softly down at her sleeping form. After a while, I let her hand rest softly back on the white linen of the hospital sheets and moved to the corner of the room where they had some chairs arranged. Dragging two of them end to end, I made a makeshift bed and curled myself into it. I took one last look at Chloe standing next to Max, gently rubbing the back of her hand with her thumb and stroking through her hair with the other. I smiled softly before closing my eyes and allowing the heavy grip of sleep to take hold.


	18. Max

The first thing I felt was an aching throb in my head. Slowly, grains of light began to leak through the familiar darkness.  _No, surely I can't be back! I took the bullet, I saved Chloe, things got better! I can't be back here!_  As the lightness grew brighter, the events of the previous night flooded through my mind. The dog. The boy. The van. The windshield. The wheelchair. My panic subsided as I realized I wasn't back at the time after the shooting.

The world slowly faded into view, and I blinked a few times, waiting for my eyes to adjust. Eventually, I was able to make out to figures, one with blue hair, one with blonde, talking quietly in the corner of the white room.

"Note to self:" both heads immediately swivelled to look at me, their eyes wide with shock, "never freeze time while in a moving vehicle." I managed a grin, and Chloe and Rachel both launched themselves toward me.

"Max, you fucking asshole! You can't fucking scare us like that!" Chloe nearly toppled on top of me, and I couldn't help but let out a small cry as a sharp pain flared in my chest. Chloe quickly recoiled, her face rife with fear. "Shit Max, I'm so sorry. The doctor said you broke your ribs. I forgot. I'm so sorry."

"Chloe, it's fine. I'm okay." I smiled at her. It was cute how worried she was about hurting me. "Though that would certainly explain the pain."

"You really scared us, Max." I turned to Rachel as she spoke for the first time. She was wearing a small, but worried, smile.

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize the momentum from the car would stay with me when I froze things. So what all happened? I just remember pushing the boy in my wheelchair and passing out." Chloe turned to Rachel, silently asking her to explain. She still looked shaken from hurting me with her attack hug.

"Well, it was all finally dandy until the windshield spontaneously shattered. Chloe swerved the truck to the side of the road, and that's when we realized that you'd vanished. We found you in the road, the boy was in your chair next to you, not knowing what to do. Christ, Max! You were lying in a pool of your own blood!" I turned my head down, mad at myself for making them worry, and cursing myself for being so stupid. I could've just asked Chloe to pull over and rewound to save the boy, but I couldn't think clearly in the moment. "Anyway, we called an ambulance, and they brought you here. We stayed here overnight. Doc said you broke two of your ribs and got a nasty concussion. He said you'll have to stay home from school for a couple weeks and avoid all strenuous activity for a while." I groaned when Rachel mentioned staying home. I had just gotten back to school, and now I couldn't go again.

"Oh, and by the way," Chloe chimed in, her voice angry, "strenuous activity happens to include jumping through fucking windshields!" I shivered at the anger in her voice, but I saw her eyes were wet.

"Chloe, I—"

"No, Max. You listen to me! You can't keep doing this! You can't keep playing the hero! You could've died, Max! Do you understand? You could have fucking died, and I can't lose you too Max. I can't." Her voice grew quieter as she finished, and I felt tears begin to form in my own eyes. Reaching out my hand, I grabbed one of hers, causing her to look back up at me.

"Chloe, I'm not going anywhere. Last night shouldn't have been dangerous in the first place. I just acted stupidly without thinking things through logically. But I couldn't let that boy die, Chloe, not if I have the power to save him. And now I understand that momentum carries with me, so that'll never happen again. I promise Chloe. I'm not leaving you." Chloe caved and shoved her head into my shoulder, crying. The pain in my chest spiked slightly, but I ignored it and ran my fingers through her hair. Rachel sat down on the other side of the bed and held my unoccupied hand.

Chloe's cries became quieter, and she sat up just as a doctor walked in.

"Maxine, I—"

"Max, never Maxine!" I smiled at Chloe's instinctive interjection. Catching my eye, her face turned red.

"Very well, Max, it's great to see that you're awake. How are you feeling?"

"Utterly phenomenal," I sarcastically replied with a smile, which we returned.

"Glad to hear it," he replied with a chuckle. "These two may have filled you in a bit, but I'd like to do so myself, if that's alright." I nodded at him to continue. "Thank you. Our immediate concern when you were brought in was blood loss. Fortunately, the cuts you sustained were shallow enough to avoid causing any lasting damage. Secondly, you cracked two of your ribs. You'll need to avoid activity for the next six weeks and refrain from putting any significant pressure on your chest. Lastly, you've gotten a concussion. I've reached out to your principal to let him know that you'll be on medical leave for the next two weeks. All in all, you'll just have to take it easy for a while. I'm also going to have you take some medicine that will help with the pain. Sound alright?" I nodded back at him, feeling an ache in my head while trying to process what he was saying. "Very good. I'll leave you alone for now, and we should be able to get you checked out within the next few hours."

As he opened the door to leave, he ran straight into Joyce. Pushing her way past him, she hurried to my side and wrapped me in a hug. Unable to resist the pain, I winced, which Joyce noticed and backed away.

"Oh sweetie, I'm so sorry. I can't believe you're already back here. It's just cruel." Next, she turned to look across my bed at Chloe, and I could see the anger in her eyes. "And you! Given the history of our family, I would think that you of all people would know to be careful while driving!" Chloe looked back toward her mother, unable to speak, looking up at her in fear.

"Joyce, it's not her fault!" I jumped in, hoping to rescue Chloe from being further berated. Joyce turned back to me with an inquisitive look. I racked my mind and tried to think of a cover story that wouldn't involve time travel. "I-In fact, Chloe was like a hero. A boy had chased his dog into the road, and she swerved the truck to avoid him. He would've died if she hadn't! It was my fault. I had been stupid and forgot to put on my seatbelt when we left the movie. Please, it's not her fault." The emotion in Joyce's eyes turned from anger to sadness. I breathed a sigh of relief knowing that she had accepted my story. I saw Rachel looking at me, and it was impossible to read her expression.

She sighed and stepped back from the bed. "Oh, Max. Well, all that matters now is that you're alright. I'll need to be getting over to the Two Whales; I'm already running late. Max, honey, you should call your folks and let them know you're alright. I'll see you girls back at the house."

"Bye Joyce. Thank you for coming." I waved at her, and she smiled back at me before heading out the door. With a large exhale, I leaned back into the bed and stared at the ceiling. "Shit," I muttered.

"What's wrong?"

"It's fine, Chloe. It's just—I know my mom's gonna yell at me some more to come back to Seattle, and I'm not particularly looking forward to that conversation."

"Y-you won't leave, will you?" I lifted my head and saw worry plastered across Chloe's face. I smiled back at her.

"Of course not. Arcadia Bay is my home, and it always has been. You are my home, Chloe, and I'm never leaving you again." The fear melted from her face, and she moved forward, wrapping me gently in her arms, careful not to press against my chest, and planted a kiss softly on my forehead. Placing my hand on her cheek, I lifted my head until my lips met hers, soft and wet and somewhat salty from the tears that had been rolling down her face throughout the night. The sound of a cough made me jump, and I saw Rachel standing at the foot of the bed, smirking at us. I had completely forgotten she was in the room, and my face turned bright red. Turning to Chloe, it seemed she had made the same mistake.

"I-I should call my mom," I stammered out, trying to avoid Rachel's gaze. Finding my phone, I took a deep breath before dialing the number.

" _Max, honey, how are you? It's early. Is everything okay?"_

"Hi Mom, I'm okay. There was a bit of an accident, and I'm in the hospital now, bu—"

" _Oh God, Max! What happened? Do you need your father and I to drive down there? I can call him, and we'll leave right away—"_

"Mom! Everything's okay. It's nothing major. There was a small accident in the car, and I got banged up a bit. It's nothing serious. The doctor said I just need to rest for a while." I felt bad lying to her about how bad it was, but I that guilt was far outweighed by my desire to avoid her panic as much as possible.

" _Lord, Max! I'm going to call your father now, and we'll drive down there to pick you up. You'll have to come back home here if you keep getting hurt!"_

"No Mom! You don't need to come; I'm fine. I knew you would say this, and I'm going to tell you exactly what I told you the first time. My home is here, and I'm not leaving. It's not like I'd be any safer in Seattle. I have friends here." I looked up and smiled at Rachel and Chloe, who were both watching my conversation unfold anxiously. "The best friends I could ever ask for, and I'm not leaving them. You know how lonely I was in Seattle."

" _Max, you can't—"_

"Sorry, Mom, I have to go. The doctor's coming in. I love you, and I'll talk to you later."

" _Fine, Max. I love you too."_ After ending the call, I dropped the phone loudly onto the table next to my bed and let out a loud groan.

"Pulling the doctor card, Max, low blow." Chloe moved to sit next to me, grinning, and I sent a tired smile in her direction.

"I know it wasn't cool. I'm just too tired to argue with her right now."

"Hey, you don't see me complaining. I'm game for anything that keeps you here with me." She leaned in and left a small kiss on my cheek. The tension in my body from the call instantly relaxed at her touch.

"Do you know when we can go home?" I asked.

"Hopefully sometime later today, unless something comes up." Chloe's face turned stern, and she looked me in the eyes. "So don't make anything come up." I couldn't help but smile at her and laid my head back to rest on the pillow.

The rest of the day seemed to creep by achingly slow, even with Chloe and Rachel to keep me company. I had to admit, I was starting to get tired of waking up in the hospital, and I was anxious to get out. Some nurses came into check on me a few times throughout the day and run some more tests, and finally, around five, the doctor came back and said I was free to go.

I closed my eyes and leaned my head back to soak in the smells and sounds of the outside world, as Chloe pushed me through the parking lot. As we neared Chloe's truck, I opened my eyes, I saw the empty space where the windshield used to be, jagged shards of glass still hanging on around the edges, and a pang of guilt shot through me.

"Shit, Chloe, I'm sorry. I-I can pay for you to fix it." Rachel started giggling, but Chloe just sighed.

"Max, don't worry about it. It's not your fault." For some reason, this made me irrationally angry.

"Of course it's my fault! In what world is it not my fault! I shattered your windshield with my stupid, useless body, because I was an idiot and made a stupid decision without thinking of the consequences!" Chloe stopped pushing and glared at me. She opened her mouth, but Rachel cut in before she was able to speak.

"Max, you're not stupid or useless—"

"Look at me!" I gestured to my skinny, limp legs, with their rapidly deteriorating muscle, to my cracked ribs, and to my concussed and traumatized brain. I felt all the frustration over my condition, that I had constantly tried to suppress, bubble up to the surface. "I'm pathetic! Look at this!" I grabbed one of my legs and shook it around, watching as it flopped around. "I can't go to school without cowering in a fucking corner! I can't even made it up a damn staircase by myself! I'm not even supposed to be here! That bullet was supposed to kill me, so you two could be happy together, and I wouldn't be here to fuck around with time and bring more death and pain to the people I care about! I'm supposed to be dead! I wish I was dead! I—" A sharp stinging pain on my face, cut me off. Shaking, I put my hand to my stinging cheek, and looked up to see Chloe, her hand still raised, tears in her eyes, looking more furious than I'd ever seen her before.

"You fucking asshole. Don't you dare say another damn word." Her voice was quivering, but the unadulterated rage was unmistakable. "How the fuck can you say that? At this point, I thought I'd made it pretty obvious that I love you." All the frustration drained out of me, until there was just an aching numbness.

"C-Chloe—"

"No, Max. I don't give a shit if you're in a wheelchair or if you're too traumatized to speak. Hell, I wouldn't care if you were stuck in a hospital bed the rest of your life! I'd stay by your side for every damn second of it, because I love you, and yet you're still too fucking stupid to see it. Ever since you came back in my life, all I've done is try to make you happy. That's all I want, and now you're talking like you're gonna fucking kill yourself! You're too obsessed with this bullshit big picture and time and space to open your eyes and see what's standing right in front of your face! You make it hurt so damn much to love you. You call yourself stupid and useless? How dare you? Honestly Max, I would think the happiness you could bring to the people who care about you would be a pretty damn good use. But if you want to think that way, then fine. Fine! Rachel, why don't you grab Max's stupid and useless body and get it in the truck. Hell, toss her in the back for all I care, since apparently she's just a piece of fucking trash. We'll drop her off to be just another piece of junk in the junkyard on the way back. How about that? Perfect."

There were no words. I stood frozen, while Chloe got into the truck, slammed the door behind her and started to cry, her forehead pressed against the steering wheel. Rachel lifted me out of my wheelchair and sat me in the truck without a word. I reached out a shaking hand toward Chloe's shoulder. I had caused this pain. I had caused this pain by running my stupid mouth and being selfish once again.

"C-Chloe, I—"

"Max." Her voice was quieter now, softer, resigned. She lifted her head slowly to look at me. "You're sorry, I know. And I forgive you. And I'll always forgive you, because you are my life. You're my dark and my light, my sun and my moon, my damsel in distress and my knight in shining armor, my salvation and my torment. Do you understand, Max?"

"Chloe, I love you so much." My body collapsed against her as my tears broke free, pouring down my face relentlessly. I sobbed and sobbed.

"It's okay. You're okay. I already said I forgive you. Just don't say shit like that ever again, you hear me?"

"I-I promise, Chloe." I sputtered out and continued to cry into Chloe. I hadn't heard Rachel get in the truck yet, so I guessed she was still outside giving us time to talk. After who knows how long, I was finally able to get a control on my crying and released Chloe from my grip. Rachel got in the truck, and Chloe started the engine. A grin slowly crept it's way onto my face. "I'm still paying for the windshield, though." Both Chloe and Rachel started laughing, and I felt myself relax.

"Christ, you're relentless. I concede. Let's just get you home." I smiled, with the hospital fading in the distance behind me and the wind pressing against my face.


	19. Chloe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this one took a bit longer to get out. This was the first one where I wasn't entirely sure what I wanted to do with it, because it's mostly serving as a transition to the next phase of the story. I've also had a couple other projects that I've been working on. I ended up going with a bit of fluff, so I hope you all enjoy!

"My head feels all fuzzy." Taking the joint out of my mouth, I sighed back at Max. The fact that she still seemed to be treating her health so expendably was really starting to get to me.

"Well, Max, considering you jumped through a damn windshield a few days back, that probably makes sense." She hadn't gotten out of bed at all this morning, and I knew she was still grumpy about not being able to go to school. The sheets rustled, as Max pushed herself onto her side to face me.

"I can't really feel time as well as I could either." I turned to her quizzically.

"Feel time?" I asked.

"I don't know. Ever since I got my powers—it's hard to describe. I've just been able to feel time around me, all the ways it shifts and breathes, like the way you might feel a breeze against your skin. Since I hit my head, it feels a lot weaker." None of this made any sort of sense to me, and, frankly, I didn't care in the slightest.

"Well considering where you ended up the last time you used your powers, I for one sure hope it stays that way." I did little to hide the venom in my tone, and Max shrank back into herself. I could feel her guilt from across the room.

"I'm sorry, Chloe." I stubbed out the joint and pushed myself around to face her.

"I know you are. It just scares me is all."

"I'm never leaving you again." The strength in her tone was unmistakable. Her voice was normally so shy and hesitant, but when it came to things like this, the power in it was almost overwhelming.

"Promise?"

"Promise." The next few minutes passed in silence, with Max still refusing to get out of bed. She had another nightmare, but she didn't seem to remember it. That or she was hiding it for my own sake, thinking I didn't notice.

"Chloe, did you move my journal?" Max asked.

"I think you've made it abundantly clear that I'm not permitted to touch thy regal diary the last few times I tried to read it." Max rolled her eyes at me, and I chuckled.

"I always leave it in the same spot under the bed, but it's not there." Her voice sounded worried, and I couldn't help but smile at how cute and protective she got over her journal.

"You do have a concussion. Probably just moved it somewhere and forgot." I shrugged back at her.

"I guess so…" She clearly wasn't convinced, but this was most certainly a problem for another time, considering the aching void rumbling in my stomach.

"C'mon Max, get out of bed. We can start your diary hunt later, but right now, I am hella hungry, and we're getting some damn fine breakfast." Finally relenting, she pushed herself to the edge of the bed and spread her arms wide with a cheeky grin that made my insides turn to mush. Sweeping her up into my arms, I planted a quick kiss on her lips, before carrying her down the stairs.

Joyce had made sure to have Max's favorite pancakes ready when we got down stairs, and it didn't take long for any evidence of the delightful breakfast to disappear by our vicious, teenage appetites. The rest of the day passed with Max and I lounging around the house and watching bad movies, laughing at the characters' stupid and inevitably disastrous decisions, while occasionally being interrupted by make out sessions.

The next day started off much the same way, and around three we found ourselves in a mass of tangled limbs on our bed, while "Piano Fire" by Sparklehorse played from the speakers. The past few days, it seemed like I was always the one to initiate any romantic encounter between Max and I, but, for whatever reason, that all seemed to change today. As soon as we flopped ourselves down onto the bed, Max launched herself at me with a fervor I'd never seen from her before. Her lips were soft and smooth, pressed desperately against mine, while our tongues swirled around each other.

I felt the small, soft mounds on her chest pressed against mine, and my excitement exploded. I had had a fair amount of relationships (if you could call them that) in the years since Max had left, with Rachel's being the longest by a longshot, and they all seemed to progress extremely quickly. I realized then that Max and I had done no more than kiss in the time we'd been together, and even more surprising was the fact that I felt no pressure or anxiety to hurry it forward. Every moment I spent with her was pure bliss. But as I felt her chest against mine, it became increasingly difficult to not let my mind wander to  _other_  things.

As if she could read my mind, Max suddenly pulled her lips away from mine, and looked at me with a serious and unflinchingly trusting look on her face.

"Chloe, I love you." She whispered.

"You know I love you so much, Max," I replied, confused as to why she had pulled away so suddenly.

"A-and I want you."  _Oh shit._

"You mean like…?" I asked quietly, a slight shiver in my voice.

"Yes." Her voice was much sturdier now.

"Are you sure? I mean—you know I'm hella down to do just about anything with you, but I need to know if you really want this. I also… I know it might be hard for you, because of—things, and I—"

"Chloe," she cut me off, "I want this. I've wanted it for a really, really long time. I've just been too scared, and that's what I hate. I hate that he makes me so scared, and I hate that he has so much power over me, even now that he's gone. And I'm not gonna let him have that power anymore." She kept her eyes locked on mine while she spoke, and I paused a few moments after she finished.

"Okay Max, but if you get uncomfortable at any point, I need you to tell me, and we'll stop, okay?" She nodded back at me, and I felt my heart start to pound faster in my chest. I leaned forward and, once again, my lips locked onto hers, and she kissed me back with even more passion than before, which I was entirely unaware was possible. Wrapping my hands around her, I swivelled us around so she was on my lap, straddling me, while I sat on the edge of the bed. I let my hands roam around her back, while our mouths continued to dance. I let my hands wander further down her back until they found the hem of her shirt and slipped under. Her breath hitched when my hands touched her bare skin, and I smiled into her kiss.

Again, I let my hands roam a bit, until I grabbed the hem of her shirt and pulled it up, releasing our kiss so I could get it over her head and allowing her to do the same with mine. For a moment, we both sat, staring at each other.

"Max, you're gorgeous." I breathed out, and it was the understatement of the century. The little freckles that dotted her face, trailed down her neck and scattered around the pale skin of her chest.

"Oh, Chloe" was all she managed to get out, before I smashed my lips once more against her. Our hands continued to explore each other's bodies, and eventually, we seemed to get our next idea at the exact same time. Almost perfectly in sync, our hands reached around and undid the other's bra straps, allowing the final bits of fabric fall away from our upper halves, this time never letting our lips part. Immediately I drew my left fingers gently up her side, feeling her shiver at my touch, until I reached her chest and cupped her left breast in my hand, beginning to knead it softly. Immediately, she moaned into my kiss, and my nether regions seemed to increase its temperature ten-fold.

My next surprise was when she reached around to hold my own breasts and began grinding her hips against mine at the same time. Ecstasy launched through my body, and I felt myself submit entirely to her touch, until she had me at her total mercy in a way I had never felt before.

We carried on until we both collapsed backward onto the bed, our lips now separated, but our bodies still crushed together, both of us breathing heavily. I had no idea how much time had passed, and I didn't care in the slightest. I had found heaven, and it looked like a scrawny, freckle-faced, unbelievably beautiful teenage girl named Max.

"Wowsers." Max managed to sputter out. I immediately started to laugh and rolled myself on top of her.

"God, you're a dork, and I love you so much." I smiled back at her. I noticed her eyes were focused below mine and looked down to see my still bare chest, and my smile grew wider. "And yes, they're all yours." Her eyes snapped back to mine after realising she was caught, and she quickly turned a bright red.

"S-sorry!" I giggled at her response.

"Max, I'm your girlfriend. You don't need to get all embarrassed, though I won't complain too much, 'cause you are extremely cute when you're flustered." I said, and she turned even redder but smiled up at me.

"I love you, Chloe Price."

"And I love you, Max Caulfield."


	20. Rachel

My leg was bouncing nervously up and down, as I sat watching Max finish her waffle at the Two Whales. With a glance to my right, I saw that Chloe was looking just as nervous as I felt. What we were about to ask had the potential to be taken extremely poorly, and I desperately hoped that Max would understand. Ultimately, it felt like something that needed to happen. With a clink, Max dropped her fork onto her now-waffle-free and syrup-stained plate and relaxed back into the booth. I gathered by thoughts and took a deep breath.

"Max, Chloe and I want you to come to the junkyard with us." I spit the words out as fast as I could and braced myself. For a moment, no one said anything, and Max stared back at me with some unreadable emotion on her face.

"Why?" Max replied in a whisper. It was just one word, but I felt all of Max's pain and terror imbedded in it. I shivered at the thought of what she had to endure there and started wondering if this was a terrible idea. Fortunately, Chloe stepped in.

"Because you keep saying that you don't want the past to control you, and this is a step in that direction. I know it's hard, but it might help to replace some of those shitty memories with happy ones." Max shifted her stare to Chloe and hesitated before speaking again.

"Is this important to you?" She asked, her voice still little more than a whisper.

"I think it's important for you, which makes it important to me," Chloe quickly replied.

"Okay."

"Wait—what? Really?" I immediately shouted before I could stop myself. Max let out a half-hearted chuckle at my response.

"Yes, really. Honestly, it's something I've been thinking about for a while as well, and I'm impressed that you were able to bring it up to me yourselves. But just so you know, we'll need to avoid certain parts that I'm not ready to see yet, and I'll likely still be a mess regardless." Chloe looked up at Max, with a small smile on her face. Her eyes were wet, and I could see the love beaming from the deep blue of her irises.

"I'm really proud of you, Max." She said quietly with a degree of sincerity that I didn't know was possible. Max offered a hesitant smile back at her which did little to mask the obvious dread she was feeling at the prospect of returning to the junkyard, even if she agreed it was for the best.

"Can we go back home for a bit first? I think I just need some time to… get ready, I guess." Her voice trailed off toward the end, and I reached across the table to put my hand on top of hers, which was wrapped tightly around her mug of hot chocolate.

"Of course," I said, trying to keep my voice as soothing as possible, "we can take all the time you need. We don't even need to do this today, if you don't feel up to it yet."

"No," she replied quickly, "it has to be today. Otherwise, I'll just keep chickening out of it."

"Alright. Let's get out of here, and we can chill for a bit, give you time to think before we head out again." Max nodded back at me, and I let out a breath. I had no idea how this was going to go. I couldn't even begin to imagine the trauma Max had endured at the place we'd soon be taking her. Thinking about it, it started to feel that we were getting her to do this out of cruelty rather than a desire to help.

The conversation on the drive to Chloe's house was kept lighthearted. Despite that, I still felt a dark cloud looming over us, and I had no doubt that the others felt the same. We pulled into the driveway, and Chloe and I both started climbing out of the truck. I grabbed Max's wheelchair from the back, but when I turned back, I saw that Max hadn't moved an inch. Chloe seemed to notice too and moved back to the truck.

"You coming, Max?" Chloe asked, and Max quickly shook her head.

"This is stupid. Let's just go. I said I didn't want to chicken out, and that's exactly what I'm doing now, just biding myself more time. Thinking about it isn't going to change whatever's going to happen. Let's go." Chloe and I shared a worried look before turning again toward Max.

"You're sure?" I asked softly, and Max nodded definitively. "Alright, let's do it."


	21. Max

The world seemed to drop fifty degrees when the junkyard came into view, and, immediately, flashes of memory began to play through my head.  _The bullet tearing through Chloe's leg. The train. Frank and the gun. Rachel's body. The stench. Chloe's screams._   _The prick in my neck. Falling. The blood spouting from Chloe's head. Fading. Jefferson._ My breathing quickened, and my eyes started to dart wildly back and forth. I felt something touch my arm and jumped, pulling my arm back to my chest.

"Max?" Chloe's voice tore through the memories, and I managed to find her eyes, my breath gradually beginning to slow. She tentatively placed her arm back on mine, and this time I didn't flinch and allowed my eyes to close, breathing deeply.

"Oh," is all I managed to say.

"We don't have to do this if you're not ready" Rachel's voice said from behind me. At this, the resolve that brought me to this point shot through my blood.

"No. I'm doing this." I replied, my voice stronger. Rachel nodded back at me, before stepping out of the truck and grabbing my wheelchair. After Chloe helped me into my chair, I looked at the scene in front of me, desperately trying to keep the memories at bay.

"I don't—let's just get to the hideout." My voice came out breathy and forced. I clenched my eyes shut, but I couldn't tell if it was better to see it all in front of me or to let my imagination bring it all back in the darkness behind my eyes. I felt my chair start to move, a soft breeze pushing against my face, and decided to keep my eyes shut for now. Somewhere to my right, the sound of the wind shifting a glass bottle over the dirt and gravel made its way to my ears, and I flinched, clenching my eyes tighter and beginning to rock softly back and forth in my chair.

After what felt like ages, the sound of my wheels shifted from rolling over dirt to stone, and the wind cut out. Slowly, I opened my eyes to see the worried faces of Chloe and Rachel framed by the hideout's graffitied walls. I let myself exhale a breath I didn't know I was holding and looked up to meet their eyes. In a tense voice, Chloe asked how I was feeling.

"Brilliant," I quickly muttered back, more bitter than I had intended. Chloe flinched at my tone, and I immediately felt guilty. "Sorry," I murmured, pulling my eyes away from her hurt expression, "I just… it's a lot."

"I know it is," Chloe responded with a sigh. "But I think I know the first step to purging this place of all its demons." She stepped to the side grinning, revealing the familiar 'Chloe was here' and 'Rachel was here' tags on the wall behind her. Suddenly, I felt like I was intruding. This was their space, and I was tarnishing it with cancerous memories that they didn't need thrust upon them. I turned to look at Rachel, only to see her holding a black marker toward me.

"A-are you sure?" I stuttered toward her. A smile broke out on her face.

"Of course we're sure." She let out a chuckle. "You saved our lives. I'm pretty sure that earns you a place on the wall at the very least." I managed to smile back at her and felt some of my apprehension leaving me. Taking the pen in my hand, I wheeled my way over to the wall and scribbled my name below Rachel's. There was something definitive in writing my name there. I had thought about doing it in the original timeline, but I never did. I felt like I would've been intruding, but now, with Rachel and Chloe's permission, I felt lighter, happier.

"And now it's permanent. It's official, Max! You're stuck with us for good now." I smiled at Chloe's words. It certainly wasn't a bad fate. To be stuck with the girl I loved more than life itself and another whom I'd quickly come to consider one of my best friends, it was perfect. I rolled away from the wall, pulled myself out of the chair, and plopped down on the ragged couch pushed against one of the walls.

"So what's the plan?" I asked, my voice now much more confident than it was just moments before. Chloe and Rachel both seemed to relax at my change in tone.

"Now," Chloe said with a smile, "we relax and have a hella good time. Rachel, you got the goods?"

"Always," she replied with a smirk, before moving to a small box in the corner and taking out a small plastic bag of weed. I remembered how I flinched when I saw Chloe with weed in the original timeline and smiled, somewhat sadly, at the memory. A lot had changed since then. I wasn't nearly so innocent. Rachel rolled some of it carefully into a joint, before lighting it with a Zippo she retrieved from the same box. After placing it to her lips and breathing it in, she passed it off to Chloe who did the same. I watched curiously for a while as they passed it back and forth and wondered what it felt like.

"Max, I don't want to push you to try anything," Chloe said, "but this could help with some of your anxiety. I know it helps with mine." I stayed quiet for a moment, considering her offer, before responding.

"Why not?" I replied. Chloe's face lit up, and Rachel smiled as well.

"Really? Sweet! Don't go overboard your first time. Your lungs might burn a bit, and you'll probably cough some, but that gets easier with time," Chloe said quickly, passing me the joint. I nodded back at her, before lifting it to my lips and breathing in. True to Chloe's words, I immediately felt a burn in my lungs and began to cough. Both Rachel and Chloe started to crack up, but I wasn't about to give up that easily. Trying again, I noticed it burned slightly less, and the coughing wasn't as intense. It didn't take long before I started to feel something. And it felt good. I smiled what must have been a pretty goofy smile, because the two girls in front of me burst into laughter once again. I tried to pretend pout, but I couldn't help the grin on my face.

Rachel pulled out some snacks, and, for a while, we all sat and passed the joint around, telling jokes and dumb stories, laughing, and munching on chips. It was a lot easier to talk. There wasn't the same hesitation I usually felt. At some point, the room became quiet, and I leaned back into the couch and stared at the ceiling.

"Sometimes I wonder if it's too much," I heard myself say.

"Whaddaya mean?" Chloe asked, still chuckling from some earlier joke.

"All the stuff I went through to get here, I wonder if it's too much for me." Any laughter that remained in the room quickly disappeared, but, for once, I didn't feel the guilt I would normally feel at sobering the mood. Rachel and Chloe both moved to sit on either side of me, but I kept my eyes focused on the ceiling. Chloe placed her hand on my thigh, and I smiled softly at her touch.

"What are you saying, Max?" Chloe asked, no chuckling this time.

"Honestly, I don't really know. It's just… it's always there. Even during the good moments, it's always there, the memories, lurking in the back of my head. I can feel them, even now, waiting for the moment I let my guard down to strike." Rachel let her hand rest on my shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze, and, for a moment, no one spoke.

"But—but you did it, Max!" Chloe sputtered out. "You did it! You saved us, and we're all here now. It's over."

"But that's just the thing. Sure, it's over out here," I gestured around the room. "But I don't think it'll ever be over in here," I finished, tapping on my head.

"It—it just needs time. You'll be okay! It's still recent, but it'll get better. You just need more time." I couldn't help but let out a bitter laugh at that, and I lowered my head to meet her worried gaze.

"Time. They say time heals all wounds. Well I call bullshit on that. Time ruined me." I paused for a moment. "I'll never regret getting my powers, because without them you'd both be dead," I quickly added, "but God I hate it. Time hurts far more than it heals." The words started to flow out of me. "Time will never heal the memory of watching you die over and over. The way your body collapsed limply to the floor in the bathroom. The bullet tearing through your leg. Seeing you get flattened by a train three times before I could stop it. The way the blood splattered from your skin. Time can't take away the terror of seeing a friend jump off a roof, knowing you're the only one who can stop it. Time can't mask the rotting stench of a dead body or the tortured wails of your reaction. Time will never take away the image of you being shot through the head by the person I hate more than anything else in this world. Time can't do shit to the memory of that same bastard raping me and taking pictures of me, naked, bruised, and bloody. Time is cruel, and time is bullshit, and I hate it. I hate it so much." I burst into tears as I exhausted myself of words and collapsed into Chloe's lap, sobbing. I heard both Chloe and Rachel crying above me and felt the familiar guilt of bringing them into my pain. Chloe wrapped her arms around me, while Rachel hugged me from behind.

"I'm so sorry, Max. I'm so sorry." Chloe managed to say through her tears. For who knows how long, we sat there, a bundled mess of limbs and tears. Gradually, the crying slowed, and I was able to lift myself from Chloe's lap, all of us still sniffling. Exhaustion quickly took over my body. Those words had taken a lot out of me.

"You're right though," I found myself saying, my voice hoarse from my crying. "It is over in the real world, and now we just have to wait for my head to catch up." I wasn't sure whether I believed what I was saying. The doubts that this would ever get easier still lingered in my mind, but they felt less intense, less overwhelming.

"And we'll be with you for every step of it," Rachel said. I nodded, my head leaning against Chloe's shoulder.

"Thank you," I whispered. Time dragged on, and I found myself lying across the couch with my head on Chloe's lap and my legs on Rachel's. At some point, Rachel lit another joint which we shared between the three of us. Chloe and Rachel were laughing at something when my phone buzzed in my pocket.

**Unknown**

_Maxine Caulfield, my team has taken an interest in your particular skill set. We'd like to arrange a meeting._

_I highly recommend that you do not ignore this message._

My blood ran cold.

"Um, guys?" I managed to say, my voice quivering.

"'Sup, Max?" Chloe replied, still giggling. I pushed myself into a seated position, so they could both get a look at my phone. Chloe's giggles quickly came to a stop.

"Oh shit."

"Y-you don't think they could know, do you?" I stammered out. Chloe gently squeezed my shoulder.

"No, Max. You've only used your powers twice in this timeline. The first time, we know for a fact that it was just the three of us. The second time, it was practically pitch black, the streets were pretty much deserted, and it was an intense situation, so if anyone saw anything, they would assume it was just from the stress." Chloe replied definitively. I nodded back at her, but the fear remained.

"What do I do?" I asked quietly.

"Here, let me see it." Chloe said, and I handed the phone over to her. Hearing the small clicks of her typing, I allowed my eyes to close, my body now very tense.

"Oh  _shit_." I caught a hint of fear in Chloe's voice this time and my eyes snapped open, just as she turned the phone for Rachel and I to see.

**Max**

_Idk what the fuck ur talking about_

**Unknown**

_I think you know exactly what I'm talking about, Maxine._

Below that, a video was linked. After Chloe pressed the play button, my heart dropped in my chest and chills ran through my skin. It was dashcam footage. It was nighttime, and the headlights fell on the silhouette of a small boy running into the street. The driver didn't have time to stop. Then, a girl appeared out of thin air, along with a wheelchair and shoved the boy out of the way before rolling herself away after him. Just before the video cut out, the girl's face could be seen seen, blurry but visible. Mine.

"No, no, no, no…" my voice trailed off. My body slowly rocked back and forth. From the corner of my eye, I saw Chloe typing again.

**Max**

_What do you want_

**Unknown**

_A meeting, that is all._

**Max**

_Fuck off_

**Unknown**

_You will regret this._

"No, no, no, no…" This was all too familiar. My thoughts were pulled back to the text at the party from Nathan's phone, luring us into Jefferson's trap. My eyes began to well with tears, and I felt the threat of the memory trying to suck me in. Chloe's hand landed on my shoulder which snapped me back to the present.

"Max, it's gonna be okay. They can't do anything," Chloe attempted to reassure me.

"We don't even know who 'they' are! They could be anybody! They could be anywhere! All we know is that they know I'm a freak, and they want me for something. And judging from that last message, they don't sound too damn friendly!" I shouted at her. I knew my anger was misplaced, but at the moment, anger was much easier than fear. Chloe and Rachel wrapped their arms around me as I screamed. Their touch made it impossible to maintain the rage, and I collapsed into their arms, allowing the tears to flow.

"We'll figure this out, Max. It'll be alright," Rachel whispered into my ear. I wanted so badly to believe her words, but I couldn't see how they could be true. My mind went rampant in creating worst-case scenarios. Would they blackmail me into doing something, threatening to expose me if I refused? Force me to use my powers to aid some illegal drug cartel or gang? I shuddered at the implications of having a person who clearly didn't have my best interests at heart aware of my abilities.

The day seemed to inch by slowly and painfully after that. The three of us silently agreed not to mention it any more. We joked and laughed, but it was impossible to ignore the weight of the unknown messenger hanging over us like a dark cloud. Eventually, the sky started to darken, and we dropped Rachel off at Blackwell before heading home. Dinner was a much quieter affair than usual. Judging by the subtle glances between them, it seemed like Joyce and David noticed that something was up, but they didn't say anything, which I was extremely thankful for. I wanted desperately to just forget that it had ever happened, that we just had a nice, uneventful day at the junkyard.

I sighed looking down at my half-eaten plate, knowing I wouldn't be able to eat anymore.

"Max, honey, surely you can do better than that!" Joyce said, calling me out. Her drawl was always able to calm me down, but it didn't seem to do much tonight.

"Sorry, Joyce. It's delicious as always; I'm just not very hungry tonight." She shot me a concerned glance before nodding and turning away, and I breathed a sigh of relief. After we ate, Chloe carried me up into our room. It sent happy shivers down my spine that I was able to comfortably call it 'our room.' When Chloe went to wash up, I decided to scour the room for my journal again but came up empty.

Resigning myself to the fact that I had probably been stupid and left it in a classroom or something at Blackwell, I began the ordeal of wiggling out of my clothes. Changing had become a major pain since I lost control of my legs, and I'd started to just sleep in my underwear, which was fortunately much less awkward now that Chloe and I were dating.

After giving Chloe a goodnight kiss, I closed my eyes and waited for the nightmares to swallow me.


	22. Chloe

It was still dark when my eyes opened. I wasn’t sure what woke me, until I felt Max’s upper half squirming in bed next to me, muttering something unintelligible. 

“No… can’t… please… no…” I snapped out of my groggy state, as her words began to become more intelligible. From the dim light of the streetlamps seeping through the window, I saw sweat glistening on her forehead, and I reached toward her. As soon as my hand made contact, she jolted away from my touch.

“Don’t touch her! No, please… stop… liar… liar, please no… she’s not…” I felt the all-too-familiar hurt of seeing Max afraid or in pain and started to whisper to her.

“Max, it’s okay. It’s a dream. You’re here with me. It’s okay, Max.” My words didn’t seem to be reaching her, as she continued to squirm, a pained expression on her face. Carefully, I reached my arm back toward her shoulder. She flinched again at my touch, but this time I kept it there and started to gently shake her. “Wake up, Max. It’s just a dream.”

“No, no, no, no… Chloe, no… don’t touch her… I’ll kill you… dammit, I’ll kill you.” Even unconscious, the intensity with which she spoke those words sent chills down my spine, and I started to shake her harder. “God, no, no, NO!” Her body snapped to a seated position, pure terror etched into her face, and I threw my arms around her.

“Max! You’re okay. It’s Chloe. I’m here. It was just a dream,” I assured her, gently rubbing her back. After a moment, her body collapsed into mine, and her sobs began again.

“It was so awful, Chloe. H-he was h-hurting you, and I c-couldn’t s-stop it. I couldn’t r-rewind, and I was t-tied down. It was so horrible.” She spoke through her relentless outpouring of tears.

“It’s okay, Max. It wasn’t real. I’m here, and I’m okay. You’re okay. You’re here with me.” I spoke, attempting to make my voice as gentle and comforting as possible. She was still shivering from her nightmare, but she seemed to be calming down, slowly but surely. I rolled over to check the time: 2:30. “Alright, Max, you think you can try to sleep some more? I’ll be right here.”

“It’s s-scary,” she whispered, and I sighed. I remembered the nightmares I would get after Dad died, the ones that still managed to find their way into my sleeping head every now and then. I understood the fear of sleep. For me it was the fear of seeing the face of a person I could never get back. For Max, I guessed, it was the fear of losing the people she did get back.

“I know, but I swear no one is going to touch you while I’m around. That’s a promise.” She let out a short, bitter chuckle.

“I know,” she paused for a moment, “but it’s not me I’m worried about.” My heart stung. She never let me doubt for a second how much I was loved, no matter how hard I tried. I was getting better at showing emotion; it was certainly easier around Max, but it was still hard after working so hard for years of concealing them.

“I’m not going anywhere, Max. I’m right here, and I’m never leaving you. 

“Promise?” She asked, though it was more of a whimper. 

“Promise.” I assured her. “Now let’s try to get some rest. You deserve it, and also your doctor’s gonna kill me if I keep you up…” She chuckled again, though this time was lighter, airier, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

“Fine, dork.” She smiled back at me. Name calling was a good sign, even if it was at my expense. Max turned her body onto her side, and I molded my body around hers. She always slept better when she could feel me next to her, and it tended to help me as well. Bound together, we both slowly slipped into a blissful, uninterrupted sleep.

The next few weeks passed largely uneventfully, and the thought of the anonymous messages were dismissed as an empty threat. Max was scheduled to return to Blackwell the next day. I was happy for her; I knew she missed being at school, but I couldn’t help feeling a bit bitter about it. It was nice having her around all the time. For the past week, she had been allowed to put more mental strain on herself, which meant that Rachel and sometimes Kate would come by most days after school to help Max get caught up on the work she missed.

Max dropped her pencil onto our desk with a wooden click and leaned back in the chair with a sigh, her scrunched-up eyebrows finally relaxing. She was just too damn cute sometimes.

“Finished?” I asked with a smile.

“Finally,” she breathily muttered back to me. Lifting myself up from in front of the TV, where I had been sitting cross-legged, playing Mario Kart while I waited for Max to finish the last of the work she needed to return to Blackwell, I walked behind her chair and wrapped my arms around her neck, leaning forward to plant a kiss on the side of her head. Before I could make contact, though, she quickly swung her head around so that my lips fell directly onto hers, and she pulled away after a moment, giggling madly. _Too much. Too cute._ I snapped out of my stupor when her giggles turned to laughter and realized that I was still standing there ogling at her.

“It’s not often that I get to catch Chloe Price at a loss for words. I’m almost tempted to rewind just to get a picture…” she trailed off. I glared at her at the mention of the rewind, but she just smirked mischievously back at me. Before long, my frown broke, and I couldn’t help grinning back at her.

“Don’t you dare.”

“Maybe I already did. Magic fingers…” she said, raising her hands and goofily twiddling her fingers, and I saw my opportunity.

“You got that right,” I responded in the deepest, most sensual voice I could manage. This time, it was Max’s turn to be rendered speechless, as she turned a bright shade of red, and I burst into laughter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry about the long break. Just a bunch of stuff going on in my personal life. I'll try to be better about getting the next chapters out in a reasonable time frame.


	23. Max

I woke to the not-so-gentle hands of Chloe shaking me awake.

"Mmmmph, no…"

"C'mon, Max. I'm the one who should be complaining about you heading back to school and leaving me here all alone," I heard Chloe say from above me.

"But sleeeeep," I whined, while slowly opening my eyes. After blinking the excess light away, I was looking up into the unimpressed face of Chloe, one of her eyebrows quirked upwards.

"Dude, you passed out at like nine last night. I'm pretty sure you'll be fine."

"Since when did you start caring about school?" I asked, biding my time.

"Since I started caring about you. Now get that cute butt in gear, and let's go." I couldn't help but blush at that and started to push myself up into a seated position. Despite my complaints, I was excited about getting back to school. I missed my classes, photography most of all. I knew it would still be hard being back in that classroom, with all the memories of the class's prior teacher, but after my breakdown on the first day, I had been able to manage it. Besides, the new teacher was nice, and she really knew her stuff.

It made me angry to think back on how entranced I had been by Jefferson before everything happened. In hindsight it was so obvious that all his "expertise" was just pretentiousness. It was also hard to admit how blind I had been. " _I could frame any one of you in a dark corner…"_ I shivered at the memory of his words.

"Max, you good?" I realized I had gotten lost in thought and turned to look at Chloe's concerned face. I smiled up at her.

"Yep, just thinking," I said. She didn't look quite convinced, but she let it go. After getting changed and a quick breakfast, we piled into Chloe's truck, still without a windshield.  _I really need to pay Chloe back for that._  Still, the breeze against my face felt kind of nice, though I suspected it wouldn't be nearly as comfortable when it got colder.

Rachel met us in the parking lot, and she helped me into my wheelchair after I gave Chloe a quick kiss goodbye.

"Now go kick Blackwell's ass," said Chloe. I sent a teasing smile her direction.

"I don't think I'll be doing much kicking anymore." Chloe instantly looked guilty, and I cursed myself for being so thoughtless. While my legs still felt like a small price to pay for Chloe and Rachel's lives, I knew they didn't see it the way I did. "Chloe, I didn't mean to—"

"I know Max," she said, cutting me off. "Just try to have a good day, okay?" I nodded back at her, and she drove off. I sighed and swivelled my chair to face Rachel, who was sending me a sad smile.

"Well, I sure screwed that up, didn't I?"

"Just a bit," she replied.

"It's just—I wasn't even supposed to live from that bullet, you know? Being alive at all is a gift, so I never really think of my legs as a sacrifice or anything," I tried to explain. Rachel just kept looking at me sadly.

"I know, Max, but you know Chloe will find a way to blame herself for everything. Just try to be more careful next time, alright?"

"Alright," I said, hanging my head down guiltily. With that, we started heading toward the school, neither of us taking any notice of the black van parked in the back corner of the lot.

"Max! I'm so glad you're back! I heard about the accident, and I've been praying for you every day." Kate was as chipper and lively as I'd seen her, her hair tied up in a bun and her silver cross dangling around her neck like always. It was hard to not see the image of her standing on the roof when I looked at her, but that Kate was leagues away from the Kate standing in front of me. I was just grateful that I was able to help her as well with this timeline.

"It's great to see you Kate. Thanks for helping me keep up with all the work I've been missing." Kate leaned down to give me a brief hug before saying she needed to get to class and scurrying off. I started wheeling myself toward the science room—I had chemistry first period—when I was ambushed yet again.

"Max-Attack, back in action!" greeted Warren. He leaned in for a hug as well, which I returned, albeit slightly more hesitantly. The guy really wasn't good at picking up on signals. I wasn't even sure if he knew Chloe and I were dating, despite us being pretty relaxed and obvious about it.

"Hey, Warren. Thanks for keeping me updated in chemistry."

"Anytime, Max!"

I followed him into the science room and up to the table we usually shared. Class went by relatively smoothly. Even with Warren's notes, I was a little lost at first, but I was able to keep up for the most part. The rest of my classes before lunch went much the same way. When it was finally time for lunch, I pushed myself into the cafeteria and found Rachel waiting for me.

"How was class?" she asked as I rolled up to her.

"Mostly fine. Just have to get back in the swing of things, I guess," I said back to her. It was then that the person I was least excited about seeing again decided to make her appearance.

"Well, well, well, look who rolled back in."

"Hey, Victoria," I sighed. A part of me still felt sympathy for her; I knew she was insecure, and I knew very well what that felt like. And, like with Kate on the roof, I'd never forget the image of her tied up in the dark room with me. Still, insecurity was no excuse for putting down all the people around you.

"What do you want, Vicky?" Rachel shot back at her, knowing she hated that nickname. Victoria's eyes narrowed, before she fell back into her usual care-free demeanor.

"Do I need an excuse to speak to my good friend Max here?" she asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Rachel scoffed and crossed her arms.

"You're not her friend, and yes you do. I know for a fact you don't have one either, so get going." Victoria just rolled her eyes and stalked off. I appreciated Rachel standing up for me, but at the same time, it sorta felt like she thought I couldn't stand up for myself.

"You know, you don't have to worry about her. It really doesn't bother me," I said to Rachel. Rachel kept her arms crossed as she turned to me, clearly not happy with that response.

"You can't keep letting her walk all over you, Max. I don't care if she went through some shit in another timeline. None of that happened to this Victoria, and if you won't stand up for yourself, then I will."

"That's just the thing! I can stand up for myself, but honestly, I'd rather Victoria focus on me than someone else like Kate who might let it get to her more. I've seen enough to know how small things like that are in the grand scheme of things," I said, trying to explain. Rachel didn't look convinced.

"Max, she's a bully. She shouldn't be allowed to act like that to anyone," Rachel said flatly. I sighed, knowing that I wasn't going to get anywhere with this.

"I know, Rach. I just—I don't know. I'm gonna step outside to get some air." Rachel nodded and sent me a small smile.

"Alright, I'll save you a seat."

I nodded at Rachel before pushing myself back out of the cafeteria and to the front entrance to Blackwell. Deciding to just stroll around for a bit to clear my head, I pushed myself down the ramp to the sidewalk that went around the yard in front of the school. I passed by Samuel feeding the squirrels, who greeted me as cryptically as ever and made my way past the Tobanga. I wasn't sure where I was headed, but I ended up rolling myself down the sidewalk that led toward the parking lot.

I was about to turn around and head back to the cafeteria when a deep, gravelly voice stopped me in my tracks.

"I told you not to ignore us." I tried to turn around, but at that moment a cloth was slapped over my mouth. I tried to hold my breath, as I thrashed and struggled, trying to get away, but I could feel myself growing weaker by the second. Eventually I had to inhale, and I immediately felt my arms going limp as the unknown assailant kept his hand locked over my mouth. I couldn't resist it anymore. "Goodnight, Maxine."

Everything went dark.


	24. Rachel

When Max didn't come back to the cafeteria, I started to get worried. I hoped I didn't really upset her that much. Sighing, I picked up my own tray of food and found a seat next to Dana.

"What's got you so worried?" asked the chipper voice of Dana. With another sigh, I turned to face her.

"Was I really being that obvious?"

"Only a bit."

"Max and I had a little argument, and I'm pretty sure she's pissed at me now," I said honestly. Dana pursed her lips but didn't say anything for a moment. "I don't know, Dana. Victoria was just being her usual self, and I hate seeing her push around Max like that."

"Why were you fighting?" Dana asked.

"I stood up for her." Much to my annoyance, Dana started to giggle.

"Sorry, it's just—only Max would get upset about that, you know? At least, the new Max."

"The new Max?" I asked, confused. Dana's smile vanished, and her look turned more contemplative.

"Well, after the… the bathroom incident, it's almost like she's an entirely different person, you know? I guess it shouldn't be much of a surprise that something like that would change someone, but she almost seems more sure of herself."

I smiled a bit internally. Dana had no idea how right she was. I had never really thought of it, since I hadn't known Max before the bathroom as anything more than a passing face in the hall that I never even connected to Chloe's childhood best friend, but in one day, Max had lived weeks and weeks of stress that I couldn't even begin to comprehend the level of.

She had never told us the exact number of times she lived through that week from hell, only that she had done it time and time again to try to find an alternate solution. Speaking of which, if she rewound enough, would she technically be older than Chloe or I? Her body might still be the same age, but what about her mind or soul or whatever part of her was actually doing the time travelling?  _Shit, time travel makes everything more complicated_.

"Yeah," I said with a sigh, "maybe it is a whole new Max."

"Either way, I'm pretty sure any version of Max is more forgiving than anyone else at this school, except for Kate maybe, so I doubt you have anything to worry about," said Dana. I sent her back a smile and knew she was probably right. We both finished our lunches talking about school and all of the typical drama. Max fell from the front of my mind, and I just resolved to find her after school to see if she was still mad.

The rest of the day went the same as any other. Most of the classes were fairly boring, but I paid attention and did well in them. When the bell finally rang for last period, I through my books into my bag before making my way to my locker and depositing the ones I didn't need inside.

I pushed my way through the crowd of students to get outside in front of the school where I usually met Max before we walked to the parking lot to meet Chloe together. I frowned when I didn't see her—she was usually already there by the time I got outside, but figured her teacher must've kept her late.

After ten minutes and still no sign of Max, I started to worry.  _Did I really upset her so much that she's avoiding me?_  With a sigh, I turned and headed off toward the parking lot where I assumed she had already met up with Chloe, but when I reached the truck there was only Chloe inside. She looked up from her phone with a smile on her face which faltered when she saw that I was alone.

"Where's Max?" asked Chloe.

"Oh, it's great to see you too, Chloe," I responded sarcastically, crossing my arms in front of my chest. Chloe just rolled her eyes. "I don't know. I thought she already came out to meet you."

"Why wouldn't she wait for you?" Chloe asked, lifting one of her eyebrows. I sighed, though I knew this was coming.

"I said some things before lunch, and I'm pretty sure she got mad at me."

"What things?" Chloe asked, her gaze suddenly harsher. I couldn't help but smirk a bit at how protective Chloe was of Max. They were good together.

"How she needs to stand up for herself more," I replied. Chloe seemed to relax at that.

"Of course. Yeah, apparently that's a no-go topic with her. Did she give you the same self-sacrificial bullshit that she gave me?" Chloe asked.

"Precisely."

"Alright, well we better go find her if she's really upset." Chloe climbed out of the car, and the two of us started to walk back toward the school.

"Should we call her?" I asked, to which Chloe nodded. "Probably best for you to do it; I'm not sure she wants to talk to me right now."

Chloe pulled out her phone and started to call Max while we walked up the path that led to the yard in front of the school. After a few rings, I heard a faint buzzing to my left and stopped Chloe.

"Do you hear that?" I asked. Chloe lowered the phone from her ear and listened, and I could see that she heard it as well. At the same time we looked down and saw Max's phone vibrating in the grass next to the path. I felt my heart rate immediately go up at the sight of the purple plastic of her phone case, and Chloe tensed up next to me, before bending down to pick it up. After it stopped ringing, Chloe and I were staring at Max's home screen that showed one new notification.

**Unknown**

_I warned you not to ignore us._

My body went rigid, and I felt the blood drain from my face. Faintly, I could hear Chloe muttering 'no, no, no…' beside me. This couldn't be real. Max was safe. She had to be. She just dropped her phone or something. This couldn't be happening. I was shaken out of my stupor when I heard a heartbreaking scream. My attention was immediately drawn to Chloe who had tears in her eyes. My own tears were yet to come with my mind still trying to process what was happening. Motionless, I watched as Chloe wound back her fist and slammed it into a nearby tree trunk before collapsing onto the ground in a limp pile. Without a thought, I fell to my knees beside her and wrapped her in my shaking arms.

"Please no, God please no, Max," Chloe sobbed out, her voice muffled from her face being pressed into my shoulder. I knew I should be doing more to comfort her, but I was feeling just as distraught and terrified as she was. Someone had taken Max. Someone had taken Max, and they knew about her powers. Someone had taken Max, and God knows what they had planned for her. My own tears finally started to well in my eyes as the truth of the situation registered itself in my mind. I held Chloe and started to rock us back and forth, as much for myself as for her.

"Rachel—" Chloe gasped out, her head shooting up to look me in the face. "Rachel, they took her. Oh God, they took Max. They took my Max." I stared back at her, unable to find words. I cursed at myself. I was Rachel Amber. I was supposed to always know what to say, but my mind was a desert.

"She… she'll be okay," I finally managed to say. "She has her powers. She'll be okay," I said, trying to convince myself. She had to be okay, right? In all of the stories she told us, she always found a way out. She escaped from Jefferson, so she'd be able to get away again. She had to. Distantly, I heard the sound of hurried footsteps making their way closer.

"Chloe, what the hell is going on here?" the voice of David said from above us. "I heard a scream!" Knowing Chloe wouldn't be able to respond, I forced myself to look at him with tears burning my eyes.

"Someone took Max."

 

 


End file.
